Making and Playing “The Parliamentary Game for Forming a Coalition Government”

Abstract

Western European political theory defines that establishment of a coalition government largely depends on the party system, and the party system is regarded as an independent variable while a coalition government is regarded as a dependent variable. However, contemporary Japanese politics obviously deviates from such theory. In Japan, politicians often argue that the party system should be rearranged according to the form of the coalition administration that has been established previously. To introduce a new point of view to the concept of creation of a coalition government for Japanese politics, “The Parliamentary Game for Forming a Coalition Government” adopted a gaming-simulation approach.

During the game creation process, it was recognized that one of the most important characteristics of politics in general was coexistence of cooperation and competition. Also, the game demonstrated that there was no agreement about the goal of politics. This study explores common characteristics of politics and gaming-simulation. In addition, the study discusses the game development process, political characteristics implied in the game rules, findings from test play, and uniqueness of the study subject.