Abstract
Mobilizing people is difficult as indicated in the literature. However, the challenges of mobilization are not always clear to students. The collective action problem and challenges of risk can be difficult to convey to undergraduate students; simply lecturing on the concept may not sufficiently capture the nuances of individual cost-benefit analyses. In this paper, we present a game that engages students by asking them about when and why they would likely participate in a protest. Through asking successive questions attempting to induce nonparticipation, this game illustrates to students why collective action may not happen. Students are also asked to reflect on theoretical explanations of the game by applying the rational actor, structure, and culture framework put forth by Lichbach and Zuckerman (2009). We argue that this exercise effectively conveys the concept of a collective action problem to students by asking them to relate mobilization to their personal preferences and experiences.