Until recently I never truly grasped that the fundamental social contract of Democracy is that the losers of elections accept the results and graciously cede power.

Board games are a critical part of teaching that lesson to children.

A short thread.

Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, and other classic first games are not about teaching strategy & tactics. They are about teaching the building blocks of games – taking turns, and being a gracious loser and winner.
And, not coincidentally, these are important societal lessons as well

Democracy is the *voluntary* adoption by those in power of rules about taking turns, winning, and losing. It is the magic circle writ large – so large perhaps, that we don’t realize we are in it until we see people who break the unwritten foundational rules.

It is a magic circle helped along by Washington stepping down after two terms, John Adams for being the first incumbent president to lose an election. It’s about Nixon in 1960, Gore stepping aside in 2000, and all the local elections settled by coin flip.

The foundation of all of that is games and play. Government and elections are fundamentally games – serious games, but games with rules we agree to play by. And the most important part is that the losing side accepts the results of elections.

They don’t have to be happy about it. They shouldn't be happy about it. But they have to accept it. Without that our democracy’s days are numbered.