Let me start off by saying I love the game and the direction it’s going, but I feel like it is a bit too easy right now and a lot of the issues democratic countries are facing aren’t accurately represented. I’ll focus on the US because I know it better than others.
- Military spending is too low and there are no issues tied to it
- A big issue in the U.S. is that half of the federal budget goes to defense. This is a relic of WWII and subsequent wars ever expanding the military industry.
- I’d like to see a crisis arise from this “Military-Industrial Complex” which would decrease foreign relations and multiply spending on Armed Forces. It could also dramatically increase the political cost of reducing military spending and open up for new policies that tackle the military industry (I’m thinking this could be tied in like how “water industry” and others function.
- Foreign military bases and foreign intervention should also be unique policies tied to the U.S, France, UK, and potentially Russia and China if/when implemented
- Veterans
- There isn’t really a representation of the countless military veterans that have been accumulated over the past 60+ years.
- It would be nice to make a new voting block for them as well as special housing/taxation/health care policies for them
- Wealth inequality
- In general the game could use a better representation of the super-wealthy who pay no taxes but make up a significant amount of the GDP
- There should be a super wealthy voting block that are incredibly difficult to tax outside of charity
- Corruption
- Certain function of the American political system aren’t really represented
- A couple of stand-outs are the lack of political fundraising limits and the massive lobbying industry which drastically diminish the level of democracy on the federal level. Corporations have an insane amount of influence on the government and this should be simulated with a large level of corruption on the national level
- Political gridlock
- This is definitely a function of the U.S. but it is rare for one of the two parties to get a clear mandate or even get anything done when one party controls both houses.
- It would be nice if there was a system of political favors where opposition parties request certain changes be made when modifying or adding a policy that isn’t universally popular (or in the U.S’s case, even when it is)
- Racial Inequality
- I know there is a policy for “Racial Profiling” but nothing in the game currently really represents the legacy of slavery and the current massive disparity in wealth between white and black communities in the U.S.
- The Racial Profiling policy should really be rethought of as a Racial Equality measure like Gender Equality with various policies (ban redlining, affirmative action, reparations, inner-city investments, etc.) to increase the measure. The U.S. (and Brazil) should have a special modifier that reduces (very slowly with time) called “Legacy of Jim Crow/Slavery” to decrease equality by a significant amount
- Segregation (yes this still exists in 2020) is also glossed over in American politics. The U.S. is more segregated now than it was in the 1960s. For this it would be nice to see a racial integration level that’s tied to racial equality, happiness, income equality, education levels, etc.
- Ethnic Minorities is too broad of a spectrum
- Ethnic minorities in this game is used as a catch all for the other, and usually just means immigrants.
- When looking at the U.S. you’ll find that there are many distinct groups that fit into this category: American Indians, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, as well as new immigrants from around the world
- This category should be split off into two groups: immigrants and minorities (two for simplicities sake, I’d like more but I know this is a big ask)
- American Indians
- America has hundreds of treaties with the sovereign Native populations.
- It would be cool for this to be represented in events and policies
I know this is a pretty long list and much of it won’t be feasible or would conflict with the generalness of the system, but I think a deep dive into the U.S. (and other countries) would make the game much more interesting. If anyone has ideas for adding depth to other countries please share them as well!