Elections and Political PartiesActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works for this topic because abstract political processes become concrete when students role-play them. Students see how preferences shape outcomes, how platforms compete, and how power is shared, which builds lasting understanding beyond textbooks.
Learning Objectives
- 1Explain the function of political parties in nominating candidates and developing policy platforms.
- 2Analyze how the preferential voting system in Australia determines the composition of the House of Representatives.
- 3Compare the impact of single-member electorates versus proportional representation on political representation in the Senate.
- 4Evaluate the role of elections in forming government and influencing policy decisions.
Want a complete lesson plan with these objectives? Generate a Mission →
Simulation Game: Class Mock Election
Divide class into parties with platforms on key issues. Students campaign, vote using preferential ballots, and tally results to form a 'government'. Discuss outcomes and representation.
Prepare & details
Explain the function of political parties in a democratic system.
Facilitation Tip: During the Class Mock Election, assign clear roles such as returning officer, scrutineers, and party campaign managers to ensure every student has a defined responsibility.
Setup: Flexible space for group stations
Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker
Pairs: Policy Platform Match
Provide real party policies from recent elections. Pairs match policies to voter profiles and predict election impacts. Share findings in a whole-class tally.
Prepare & details
Analyze how elections determine the composition of government.
Facilitation Tip: For Policy Platform Match, provide sample party manifestos with highlighted policy differences so students focus on matching rather than summarizing.
Setup: Flexible space for group stations
Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker
Formal Debate: Electoral Systems Comparison
Assign teams to argue for first-past-the-post versus preferential voting. Use timers for speeches and rebuttals, then vote on most convincing side.
Prepare & details
Evaluate the impact of different electoral systems on political representation.
Facilitation Tip: In the Electoral Systems Comparison debate, give each pair a one-page summary of their assigned system to keep arguments evidence-based.
Setup: Two teams facing each other, audience seating for the rest
Materials: Debate proposition card, Research brief for each side, Judging rubric for audience, Timer
Whole Class: Government Formation Puzzle
Display election results on board. Class collaboratively sorts seats into majorities, oppositions, and coalitions to simulate Parliament.
Prepare & details
Explain the function of political parties in a democratic system.
Facilitation Tip: During the Government Formation Puzzle, set a time limit to mimic real-world pressure and force students to make quick, strategic decisions.
Setup: Flexible space for group stations
Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker
Teaching This Topic
Teachers approach this topic by starting with students’ lived experiences of elections and parties, then layering formal processes. Avoid lecturing about voting systems; instead, let students discover anomalies like how 40% of the vote does not always win. Research shows role-play builds empathy and retention, while direct instruction alone often leaves gaps in understanding coalition dynamics and preference flows.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students explaining how preferential voting changes results, justifying policy choices based on evidence, and collaborating to form stable governments from fragmented results. Missteps become visible teaching moments you can address on the spot.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring the Class Mock Election, watch for students assuming the candidate with the highest first-preference votes automatically wins.
What to Teach Instead
Before counting begins, have students predict outcomes based on first preferences, then compare predictions to the actual result after preference distribution, highlighting how second and third preferences shift outcomes.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Policy Platform Match activity, watch for students believing one policy area alone determines a party’s success.
What to Teach Instead
After matching, ask students to present which two additional policies their matched party would need to add to gain broader appeal, using evidence from voter surveys provided in the activity.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Government Formation Puzzle, watch for students assuming the largest party should always lead the government.
What to Teach Instead
After forming governments, have each group present their coalition agreement and justify why their combination meets stability criteria, revealing trade-offs in policy and power.
Assessment Ideas
After the Class Mock Election, facilitate a class discussion where students share and justify their advice to a new political party by answering: 'What are the three most important functions a political party must perform to be successful in Australia?' Collect responses on a shared board to assess understanding of party roles.
During the Policy Platform Match, after pairs finish matching policies to parties, provide a quick scenario where a voter changes their preference order and ask students to demonstrate how the mock election result would change, assessing their grasp of preference flows.
After the Government Formation Puzzle, on an exit ticket, ask students to write one sentence explaining the difference between a majority government and a minority government, and one sentence explaining why proportional representation might lead to a more diverse parliament than single-member electorates.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: After the mock election, ask students to redesign the campaign to win a seat with only 25% of the primary vote using preference deals.
- Scaffolding: During Policy Platform Match, provide a word bank of key policy terms and sentence starters to support students with language barriers.
- Deeper: After the Government Formation Puzzle, have students research a real Australian election where no party won a majority and present how deals were negotiated.
Key Vocabulary
| Political Party | An organized group of people who share similar political aims and opinions, and who seek to influence public policy by getting their candidates elected to public office. |
| Electorate | A body of people entitled to vote in an election, or a geographical area represented by an elected official. |
| Preferential Voting | An electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference; if no candidate wins an absolute majority, the lowest-polling candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed according to the next preference. |
| Majority Government | A government formed by a political party or coalition that holds more than half of the seats in the lower house of parliament. |
| Proportional Representation | An electoral system where the number of seats a party wins is roughly proportional to the number of votes it receives. |
Suggested Methodologies
More in The Machinery of Democracy
Historical Roots of Australian Constitution
Students will analyze the historical influences and key principles that shaped the Australian Constitution.
2 methodologies
Structure and Division of Powers
Students will explore the chapters and sections of the Constitution, focusing on the division of powers.
2 methodologies
Amending the Constitution: Referendums
Students will investigate the process of constitutional change through referendums and historical examples.
2 methodologies
Federal Government: Powers and Responsibilities
Students will identify the distinct responsibilities and services provided by the federal government.
2 methodologies
State and Territory Governments: Roles
Students will identify the distinct responsibilities and services provided by state and territory governments.
2 methodologies
Ready to teach Elections and Political Parties?
Generate a full mission with everything you need
Generate a Mission