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"Just reading the manifestos is a history lesson in itself."

A role play exploring the development of democracy in the UK

Anthony Cutler and Matthew Lyddon
35-page A4 photocopiable resource - download only - £7.00 Suitable for mature teenagers and adults - upper intermediate to advanced English language learners.

'One person, one vote' democracy in Britain is less than 100 years old, and required a series of political, and sometimes literal, battles before it was realised. But young British people today are often lukewarm, to say the least, about voting and participating in British democratic processes.

Participants in this role-play can experience what it was like to be part of approximately 66% of people denied a vote in one of the most crucial elections in the UK's history.

In the central role-play they adopt British identities, explore the background to the election of 1905, read competing manifestos, mark their ballot papers and prepare to vote.

Discussions follow on how they felt to be denied a vote and what they might have done to secure a vote in future. This is then compared with how the suffragettes and others campaigned for women's and universal adult suffrage.

Will this role-play revise attitudes to voting? You can take a vote on it at the end and find out.
Attitudes may not change, but the experimental role-plays carried out in secondary schools, church groups and adult education classes in the UK stimulated considerable debate and clearly raised awareness.

The Long Journey comes up to date with an examination, through further role-plays and group work, of local democracy. Individuals explore how they can exert an influence in large or small ways in their local areas.

The Long Journey includes vocabulary-building exercises based on the contents of the various role-plays.

Author and political theorist Matthew Lyddon maintains a keen interest in empowering current and future citizens who wish to gain meaningful access to political debate and activity in the UK.

Co-author and EFL / ESL teacher Anthony Cutler lived abroad for twenty years and knows how it feels to be without a vote.