ACCOUNTING HISTORY AND GOVERNMENTAL INQUIRIES: AN EXPERIMENT IN ADVERSARIAL ROLEPLAY

Governmental inquiries where accounting is a central focus are a rich resource for injecting much needed historical content into accounting courses in higher education. An adversarial roleplay recreated a Wage Stabilization Board hearing in Washington, D. C. which, in 1952, led to President Truman's seizure of the American steel industry and ultimately to a constitutional crisis. The roleplay centered on the accounting issues debated by that Board in response to a highly provocative submission by W. A. Paton on behalf of the steel industry. The roleplay revealed strong support for recourse to such historical materials in providing an enjoyable, stimulating and effective way of learning accounting theory. Ancillary benefits were that students gained a better understanding of some important economic, political and constitutional issues in American history.