This paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students' abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to…

It all started when the author's daughter, also a Madison teacher, called her. "We need to call people to the rally at the Capitol." That Sunday rally in Capitol Square was just the first step in the massive protests against Governor Scott Walker's infamous "budget repair bill." The Madison teachers' union declared a "work…