![]() ![]() Strong labor laws decrease productivity – again, the opposite of what real cases suggest. Similarly, legalizing drugs increases crime (particularly organized crime), while such policies in actual practice do the opposite. ![]() For example, maintaining a death penalty lowers violent crime rates, even though real-world studies have found no deterrent effect in the practice. Other phenomena, however, say more about Harris’ beliefs or assumptions. Making abortion completely legal outrages the religious, high pollution negatively affects public health, maintaining a budget deficit will downgrade your credit rating, etc. Some of the causes and effects built into the system are plainly non-controversial. ![]() You only have enough political capital to adjust a few factors with each turn you take, and nearly every option will please some demographics while pissing off others. Democracy 3 purposefully bases its challenge on the inherent real-world difficulties in affecting political change and satisfying an electorate. There are some ideas fully intended by developer Cliff Harris. Thus, there are political statements built into even its most minor mechanics. This is not confined to simulators by any means – nearly all FPS games come with a strong militaristic or even fascist bent regardless of how politically interested their actual stories are – but here we have a game explicitly dealing with politics. The shorthand a developer creates between real-world phenomena and their simulation’s facsimile of it can also make statements, whether intended or not. But this ultimately is not truly in the service of a more realistic experience, but instead a more fun one. The game’s neural-network-based simulations grant a reasonable level of nuance to the interrelations between policies, popularity, political capital, and social issues. That simplistic summary belies the intriguing variety of scenarios one can encounter during any given playthrough. The goal of any given session is not necessarily to build a better society, but simply to remain in office for as long as your preset government permits without losing an election or getting assassinated. ![]() Your power to implement new policies or change existing ones is based on “political capital,” which you gain not from popular support or with control over a legislative body but through loyal cabinet members. The well-being of your nation is measured via six barometers – crime, GDP, education, health, unemployment, and poverty – while your popularity among your citizens is expressed by dividing them into twenty-one demographics, such as parents, the religious, “patriots,” etc. CO2 emissions, for instance, are increased by your country’s level of car and plane usage and decreased by green energy policies. You can look at any given representation of a policy or problem and see strings of cause and effect linking it to its related bubbles. Democracy 3 lets play series#The Democracy series boils down the myriad matters of taxes and subsidies, social issues, policies and laws, budgets, and public polling down to an easy to understand, easy to adjust web of icons. There is perhaps no better example of this than the political simulation game, and no better showcase for that genre than Positech’s Democracy 3. But greater “realism” in games has also thrown into sharper relief the gap between the rules of their simulacra and how reality truly works. As with all video games, advancements in technology have allowed simulators to become more complex and sophisticated as the years have gone on. Simulation games spark a deep sense of satisfaction in players, though whether that fulfillment comes from constructing a well-managed city or a sadistic murder-filled theme park depends on the player in question. ![]()
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