What happens when democracy is treated as a design challenge? Can the intersection of fairness, randomness, engineering, and art inspire our sense of agency as a citizen?
At the dawn of Athenian democracy 2,500 years ago, the Kleroterion served as a device to randomly select citizens for public offices and juries.
In 2024, artist Taryn Simon reimagined this ancient tool as a modern sculpture to spark dialogue about contemporary democracy.
The Game of Democracy course uses the Kleroterion as an organizing metaphor for a class in which students address issues in civic life by designing and building their own “devices of democracy.”
Creating mechanisms that promote fairness, transparency and civic engagement.
Through readings, guest lectures and discussions, students study current challenges in our democracy and prototype devices that address issues through engineering, artistic practice and mathematical thinking.
As a final project, students create their own “devices of democracy” to foster more just civic processes. The devices will on displayed in an interactive exhibition in Sprague Gallery April 30-May 7.
Device: Gerry the Game. Goal: Address the deepening partisan divide by engineering connection. Lower audience defenses, facilitate interaction and allow isolated viewers to become active participants in an important and necessary conversation.
Device: Pillar of Democracy. Goal: Address negative beliefs about voter effectiveness by gamifying voting to make engagement more fun. Increase voter participation, leading to more representative leaders and better government for all people.
Device: Democracy Plinko. Goal: Address the lack of equal representation and efforts to influence outcomes by transforming frustration into insight. Foster critical thinking, civic awareness, and a more informed perspective on the democratic process.
Device: R2Democracy2. Goal: Address low voter motivation due to lack of transparency by providing people with a way to vote that is straightforward and has a direct impact that the viewer can visualize.
Device: Collaboration Under Construction. Goal: Address the deepening partisan divide by engineering connection through the Labyrinth Board game requiring two players to collaborate to achieve a shared goal.
Device: Big Bird is Watching You. Goal: Address the inequality of how people are routinely scored, ranked, and categorized by automated systems they cannot see, understand, or contest. Use play and humor to prompt self interrogation. Success means participants leave less willing to accept algorithmic scores at face value.
Device: Stacking Game. Goal: Address misrepresentation by gamifying voting to make engagement more fun. The stacking game is inspired by the idea of meaningful play to build community and awareness.
Device: Neighborhood Potluck. Goal: Address low voter participation by gamifying the voting process. I take a familiar game, Cornhole, and add twists, allowing for multiple players to participate on one board as well as allowing for players to “sabbotage” the progress of the team.
Device: Drop in the Bucket. Goal: Address gerrymandering and other efforts to rig the voting system by creating a device that helps people understand some of the ways unfair systems have been manipulated to ensure certain outcomes.
Final projects will be displayed in an interactive exhibition in Sprague Gallery April 27-July 31.
Engage with students’ devices of democracy in this free public art exhibit, open to the public 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., April 27-July 31. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to borrow Taryn Simon’s Kleroterion from the Almine Gallery to anchor the exhibition.