The Gaming of Policy and the Politics of Gaming

The December 2009 issue of Simulation & Gaming is now out, and among the articles is a useful review by Igor Meyer on the “Gaming of Policy and the Politics of Gaming”

This article examines the foundations of gaming and related concepts, such as policy exercises and serious gaming, in a public policy making context. Examining the relevant publications in Simulation & Gaming since 1969, the author looks back at the development of gaming simulation for purposes such as public policy analysis and planning, and reviews the underlying theories and empirical evidence. The author highlights the recognition that the success of gaming for policy making derives largely from the unique power of that gaming to capture and integrate both the technical-physical and the social-political complexities of policy problems.

The piece is useful both for the historical overview that it offers and for the extensive bibliography it includes.