The Legislative Race

"The Legislative Race" is a fun, interactive board game designed to build understanding of the legislative process. Players take on the role of a member of the House of Representatives or Senate and work with their partner in the other chamber to navigate the many obstacles in getting their bill into law. By drawing cards, and performing actions, students will learn, and experience, the importance of finding cosponsors, the role of committees and markups, the dreaded filibuster, and more. The Legislative Race is a perfect supplement to any US History, US Government, or Civics course. "The Game," as my students call it, has become a staple in my own curriculum and one that students come in asking about year after year!

The game is best played with 6 players (3 teams of 2). For a class of 30+ students, I'd recommend 5-6 sets.

Green hair? Fake Nails? Dressed up in sparkly fairy wings and a tutu?

For the teacher really looking to have some fun in class, allow your students to write bills about you! Use the included "Student Bill Template" (Free download) for students to draft their bill. If that team wins the game, and you sign it into law, you have to execute it! While playing the game, I’ve had to veto a few of the more creative bills but I’ve also had students count up their classmates to figure out what the exact vote would be for a two-thirds override! It’s how I ended up with green hair for a day.

My free guide on how I use the game includes a recommended lesson plan for how I build up to and introduce "The Legislative Race" and recommendations based on my own experience using the game in class.

The goal of the game is for students to work with their partner in the opposite chamber to advance together towards the President's Desk. Along the way, students must collect cosponsors and try to avoid amendments to increase their odds of passing the final votes in the House and Senate. Players roll dice to move around the board. If a player lands on an envelope, they draw a card to either gain a cosponsor, gain an amendment, or play an action to impact another player or themselves. All cards represent real aspects of the Legislative Process (eg. Logrolling, Filibuster, pigeonhole, Pork Barrel Spending, Interest Groups, etc.) The gameboard is divided into sections. Each section has different actions and goals that students must complete before advancing. For example, in Committee (center of the board), players can revise their bill to get rid of amendments, or hold hearings to (hopefully) add cosponsors. In the Conference Committee, players work with their partner to reconcile their bills to determine if they move on to the final vote. The gameboard includes a brief overview of each section and the included Rule Book provides further clarification.

See an unboxing video here:

I am a US History and US Government teacher with over 10 years of classroom experience. I designed this game to be ready to go, easy to understand, and enjoyable for students and adults. Keep scrolling to see some actions shots of the game played in my own class...and me "executing" some of the laws passed by students.