Lindenwood University

An energetic, working community emerges in Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ Girls State as hundreds of Missouri high school teenagers share a week, June 2022, on Lindenwood University’s campus. There they organize into groups and form a government, including self-declared candidates campaigning and the entire citizens collective electing a Governor, Supreme Court Justices, an Attorney General, and more. As each candidate promotes herself, alliances are formed and competition amplified amidst tense nerves. These five hundred diverse Missourians bond, debate, strategize, and gain immense insight into the democratic world.