Totalitarian Regimes”
-Determining the degree of authoritarianism of States
The degree of liberty (and thus of authoritarianism) of a country is measured by a multi-variable equation. These are estimated at the beginning of the game for all the countries of the world, according to many reports and world databases, namely the annual report of Amnesty International. Here is the detail of these different variables:
* Nomination method of the Chief Executive, listing the following functions: democratically elected by the people (accompanied by an evaluation of the cheating and any possible police pressure applied by government during election time), nominated by the one-party system, nominated by the monarch of the country, nominated for life. * Parliamentary powers such as : Voting all or a part of the laws, purely consultative role, can or cannot censure the Chief Executive, can or cannot be dissolved by the Head of State, pressure exercized by the State on the parliamentarians. * Structure and liberties of political parties : Multiparty or single-party system, degree of control over parties exercized by the State. * Union rights : the presence or absence of a one-union system, degree of control that the State has over the unions, the recognition, limitation, or prohibition of the right to strike. * Independence of the Justice system : Method of nomination of the high magistrates, degree of control of the judges by the State, * (Non-)Application of the death penalty. * Role and powers of the police : Existence and size of the political police, police violence record, degree of police supervision (identity card, surveillance cameras, radars...), number of police per inhabitant. * Public liberties: the liberty to associate, the liberty of expression and the freedom to protest the state and religion. * Freedom of press : Degree of intervention of the State in the media, public or private system, degree of censure of eroticism, pornography, and violence. * Constitutional framework of religion, different situations: Separation of Church and State, secularity, reference to religion in the Constitution, different levels of influence of religion in the functioning of the State, theocracy, enforcement of strict religious rules (Sharia) * Freedom of religion: Evaluation of possible discrimination of religious practices.
-Functioning of totalitarian states for the player
In a nutshell, in this game, a country is considered totalitarian if it has a political regime based on a single party and on a parliament that is de facto controlled. That being said, different game rules can be applied, depending on the exact parameters of the variables described above. The most important of these variables are:
* Decree : This is the main change with respect to a democratic country. If the parliament is under the control of a one-party system or if it only plays a consultative role, the player does not need to submit his laws, as they are automatically passed by decree.
* Popularity rating : The player starts at 50% as in any other country. His rating reflects the true opinion of the people (what the people really think, if they were free to express their thoughts), and not the official opinion. * Reactions of the population : They take into account the level of public liberties. A population “under control” will have more difficulty expressing its discontent, and will express it differently. By way of example, in a Democratic country, protests will naturally arise; while in an authoritarian regime, there are covert operations defacing public places in the middle of the night. In troubled periods, it is also easier to restore the peace. However the player is never safe from a revolution. * Reactions of public figures: As for the general population, important public figures of the country will issue any negative opinion will great caution. Of course the public figures may also have different political sympathies than those of the official party. The player can reveal this by spying on them. * Reactions of pressure groups: They each depend on variables that are assigned to them. Thus, for example, it will be difficult for a union to start a strike if the right to strike is officially prohibited. In the same way, it will be difficult for an association or a religious community to rise up if they are controlled by the regime.
-A threatened dictator
Even if the player in a single-party country does not need to confront a recall during free elections, he still needs to go through a nomination procedure at the end of his legal mandate, unless he is nominated for life. For example, the Assembly of a one-party state or a king with absolute power can notify the player in the beginning if he has led a policy contrary to their aspirations.
In any case, at any given moment, the player can be threatened by those in power: the monarch in a monarchy, the party head even if the player is nominated for life, the head of the armies (this is a classic situation), or the head of the majority religion in a theocracy.
Finally, by want of liberty or simply overwhelmed by poverty, the population may rise up and the country can quickly sink into revolution, all the more so if dominant powers protest the policies of the head of state, and have difficulty adhering to them in the maintenance of order. Note that these powers do not necessarily appreciate a hardening of the regime, which can lead to popular upheaval.
-The path to democracy
It goes without saying that the democratisation of a totalitarian regime does not happen overnight. The player will need to rely on strong public backing in order to impose his vision on the dominant powers, who in this situation might not dare to set off an impeachment process for fear of seeing the people turn against them. Moreover, it is most likely necessary to get on well with the dominant powers before engaging in a process of democratization.
The main founding act is to go from a single-party to a multi-party mode. If the player has manages to, one or several parties can be created and can then take part in free elections, which will come on the last day of the official mandate of the head of state. The player also has the possibility to dissolve the parliament in order to accelerate the start of elections.
Finally, just as a totalitarian regime can theoretically become a democracy, the opposite is also possible. There the player has a vested interest, before engaging in unpopular measures, to enjoy strong popularity. In this kind of process, the secret service plays a major role and corruption reigns...