READING THE GOVERNMENT DATA SHEET

READING YOUR GOVERNMENT DATA SHEET

Name: This, logically enough, is the common name for your nation, in English. Please note that some nations do have 'long-form' names, and that many appear and sound quite different in their native tongues.

Chief of State: The name of the individual who holds executive authority in the nation. Nine times out of ten, this would be the primary character played by the PC, though this is not always the case.

Government Model: This describes how the nation actually is governed and administrated. This can have a very direct effect on how you may and may not play your nation. In an authoritarian regime such as an Absolute Monarchy, an Autocracy, a Military Junta, or a One-Party State, the player will usually have full command of the nation, and have complete authority to do as s/he pleases. As a nation becomes more and more liberalized, and grants more authority to the people to have the government work for them, rather than the inverse, the player may be stymied in actions that go against the will of the people, by incorrigible parliamentary procedures, constitutions and systems of checks and balances. Should a government descend to anarchy, the player may even have a difficult time getting anything to occur on his/her command.

Absolute Monarchy- An absolute monarchy is a form of government when one person holds complete authority over the nation as a personal estate. There is no system of checks and balances- what an Absolute Monarch says, goes. An Absolute Monarch is the person of the law, and is above it. Unlike an Autocracy, the rule is specifically handed down from father to son. An example would be Tsarist Russia, or Wilhelmine Germany.

Autocracy- An Autocracy is a system of government where one ruler commands the nation by decree. In function, it is very similar to an Absolute Monarchy, save that the mantle of rulership is not typically passed down along dynastic lines; rather, it is ruled as a cult-of-personality. Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy are examples of Autocracies.

One-Party State- A One-Party State is a government where power is restricted to a single, monolithic group, with a single goal (or set of goals). Examples of One-Party States would be Communist China, or Nationalist Spain.

Military Junta- A nation ruled by a military junta is one where rule was achieved by force of arms, and all policies are set by a small number of career military officers. Quaddaffi's Libya is an example of a state ruled by a military junta.

Limited Democracy- A Limited Democracy, at it's core, is a standard republic, whereby representatives are elected by common voting of the people; but there are some features of the government that prevent it from being a truly realized full democracy. For example, restrictions on suffrage rights to a certain class, race or gender; an overriding veto power by another body, such as a constitutional monarch or a very powerful chief executive. Examples of Limited Democracies would be the pre-universal suffrage United States, Nehru's India in the late 1940s, and Apartheid South Africa.

Multi-Party Democracy- A multi-party democracy is one where all people or peoples have the opportunity to be fully and fairly represented in the government. Suffrage is universal, and human rights are usually full and just. On the other hand, getting any one agenda accomplished can often be stymied by those with opposing views. For example, a multi-party democracy gone awry would be Weimer Germany. On the other hand, modern Switzerland and Britain have set excellent examples of multi-party democracy.

No Effective Government- A nation with no effective government could be one that has descended into anarchy and chaos, like Warlord China; those who do not possess any form of self government (colonies such as Manchuko under Japanese Mandate), and the like. In this case, perhaps only small, localized enclaves will follow any of the rule of the 'central government', and likely even foreign nations may recognize none.

Economic Model- This determines how much control a ruler has over their nation's economy and it's function.

Marxism/Socialism/Planned- the theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which became the official doctrine of communism. According to Marxism, the key to how society operated was economics; all other aspects of society, such as politics and religion, were conditioned by the economic system. Under capitalism, society was divided into two classes: the capitalists who owned the means of production and distribution, and the workers, or proletariat, whose labor was exploited by the ruling class. Marx saw history as a dialectical process in which two opposing forces (thesis and antithesis) generate a third, synthesizing force. According to this view, capitalism would eventually break down because of its own contradictions and this would lead to the proletarian revolution and the establishment of the classless society. In the later part of nineteenth century Marxism was adopted by labor and socialist movements in Europe.
    In a Marxist/Socialist economy, the government has complete control over the economy, with the ability to assign it's population to whatever sectors of the economy it deems necessary, and the government maintains full ownership of the entirety of production. On the downside, Marxist governments tend toward inefficiency, and bloated beauracracies. Soviet Russia, Red China and Castro's Cuba all operate with Marxist economies.

Mixed Economy- an economy in which elements from the free enterprise system are combined with elements of socialism. Most industrial economies, now including those in the post-communist world, are mixed economies.
    Mixed Economies are ones in which a great deal of control sits with the government, which is represented by a high tax rate, of which, a significant portion must be used to fund social programs such as health care, mail delivery, social security and the like. On the up side, Mixed Economies tend to have more cash on hand to operate with. The modern United States, United Kingdom and France all sport Mixed Economies.

Market- the economic system that is fundamental to capitalism. The means of production are privately owned and decisions regarding producing and pricing are governed by market forces. i.e., prices are regulated only by free market competition, and supply and demand. There is only minimal government intervention.
    In a market economy, taxation is very low, which results in a quicker growing economy, but very little cash on hand for the government to operate with. The pre-FDR United States was one of the most successful Market economies in the world, until little things like anti-trust laws broke up many of the massive monopolies.

Control Points- Influence among the populace and key internal power blocs is the stock and trade of a nation's political parties. This is manifested in Control Points. Each nation has 100 control points, each representing roughly 1% of the nation's internal political backing. Each party or power bloc possesses a given number of control points, reflecting the backing and influence that party has internally. This fluctuates as the parties succeed or fail at the goals; and as they might anger or alienate the populace; or as they please them, doing things that improve the peoples' lot in life.

Power Points- This game mechanic, closely related to CP, describes how much immediate political capital a ruler and his/her party can expend to achieve his/her policy goals within the nation. Typically, this will range between one and ten. In a parliamentary battle over any given policy, those waging the battle may spend PP to attempt to gain a victory for their side. In general terms, spending PP adds 10% temporarily to that coalition's CP with regards to any given particular vote. The opposing side(s) may also use PP to increase their total, in an effort to cancel the PP expenditure of the originating party.
When a vote is completed, the winning side deducts all the PP they spent from their total; as the markers called in winning the legislative battle are considered paid. Likewise, the losing party keeps the PP they spent- their favors clearly did not come due- and they get to split between the parties, one-half the total expended by the winning party(s), which reflects the favors earned by 'defectors' who did not vote along party lines, enabling the winning side to eke out the victory.

Trade Arrangements- This describes the nations with whom the nation in question has negotiated a trade pact. This is split into three sections- Nation (incoming tariff/outgoing tariff). Typically speaking, having a trade agreement helps your nation, should you be trading with a nation that has a market for the goods that yours may export, and/or meets a need possessed by your nation. For example, France possesses little to no bauxite, a valuable strategic mineral. Thus, signing an agreement with a nation that produces bauxite would be in France's best interest.
As to tariffs- tariffs help protect the domestic market from foreign penetration, but make your nation a less valuable trading partner. For example, the modern-day United States has very healthy steel production capabilities, but due to costs associate with refining it, (notably as labor); a higher cost needs to passed on to the consumer for the US steel business to be profitable. On the other hand, Brazilian labor is cheap, and thus Brazil can set a very low price to it's exported steel; a price that would cause US steel consumers to want to purchase Brazilian-forged steel, rather than that forged in Pittsburgh. This would be very bad for the US steel industry, so the US sets a high tariff on Brazilian steel, in order to protect US steel interests, but causing Brazil to want to seek a better market for it's steel elsewhere. This is called protectionism. Protecting the US steel industry will make those constituents happy, but being effectively denied the US steel market will not likely please Brazil; and could likely annoy US steel consumers, who would prefer to purchase cheaper steel. Trade is a difficult balancing act.
The actual game effect of trade pacts lies primarily in the health of your nation's economy. Should a nation be getting all the goods it needs, and at fair prices, the economy will prosper and grow. Should a nation be lacking in certain things, prices will soar, and the economy might crash. Likewise, if a nation has overstocks of produced goods and no market to sell them in, production will slow, and the economy will dip into recession or depression, as workers lose their jobs and businesses evaporate.

Embassies- This reflects the nations with whom a nation has exchanged ambassadors. Without such an exchange, nations may only communicate publicly (via the email group), or via a third party. If a nation has exchanged ambassadors with another nation, they may communicate privately via email.
On the other hand, and allowing a foreign embassy in your nation improves that nation's chance of conducting espionage missions within your borders by a significant amount, and an embassy in a foreign nations requires 1 cash unit per year to upkeep. A nation must maintain an embassy with every nation they allow to possess one in their own nation. (If Kenya wishes to allow the United States to set up an embassy in Kenya, Kenya must do the same in Washington.)

Pacts and Alliances- Here is noted all the public pacts, alliances and agreements a nation is party to. The details and text of each alliance is to be worked out between the individual nations; though breaking or failing to fulfill any given agreement might well affect a nation's standing, perceived ethics, aggression level, and credibility.

Ethics- Ethics is a game statistic that rates how ethical, decent, fair and just a nation is in it's dealings, both abroad, and towards it's own civilians. A nation with a high ethical rating is one that typically keeps it's dealings 'above-board', rarely, if ever reverts to (or gets caught at) covert actions, grants full and due process of the law to it's own civilians, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religious creed. On the other hand, as a nation becomes corrupted, it may violate human rights principles, engage in repression of it's own population via a police state, oppress certain segments of it's population; or at extremes, violate such laws as the Geneva Conventions, may use poison gas and other weapons of mass destruction, or even commit genocide.
Typically speaking, a nation with a high ethics rating will tend to get better reactions to diplomatic overtures to foreign government, but will be less capable of dealing with internal dissent, as the machinery will not often be in place to 'neutralize' many groups, without violating the ethics rating.

Ambition- The Ambition rating of a nation is a measure of how their actions are viewed abroad. A nation with a high ambition rating is often considered expansionistic, and a threat to those whose territories they neighbor. On the other hand, when an overtly ambitious nation threatens the use of military action, there is little doubt as to the credibility of the threat; something which may not be the case with a more reserved nation. To draw a historical example, when Hitler started making overtures and threats regarding annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, few doubted that the Third Reich would make good their threat by force of arms. On the other hand, just shortly thereafter, when Britain and France guaranteed the borders of Poland, notably the Danzig Corridor, against Germany, clearly Daladier and Chamberlain were not taken seriously, and as a result, Germany and the Soviet Union divided the nation along the Bug River, with nary a whimper heard from the Allies.
Ambition is a weapon to be wielded as much as it can be an indication of a nation's trustwortyness. Most nations are unlikely to ally with such a nation, for fear that they might be next under that nation's heel; whereas most nations are quite likely to take threats and posturing seriously- though this may be mitigated by a low Credibility.

Credibility- Credibility is a rating of how dependable a nation is, how much it keeps it's word to it's own people, and on the international arena. A nation found to live up to it's treaties and international agreements tends to have a high credibility rating, whereas one found to breach it's agreements, make ludicrous boasts, or outright lie to it's people or on the national stage, will tend to have a low credibility. The effects of credibility are clear- a nation known to be ruled by a bald-faced liar will usually have few believe their boasts, whereas a nation known to be forthright and honest will be one that nations turn to for intelligence reports, and to give the 'real-poop'.

World Power- World Power is a reflection of how potent the nation is on the national stage.

Tax Rate- Tax Rate is a generic setting as to how much of the nation's proceeds generated by business and personal income, that the government garnishes in order to fund it's own operations. This may be raised or lowered by the ruler and/or legislature, and this can have any number of effects on the economy of the nation. In the most general terms, lowering the tax rate boosts the economy, but limits the ability of the government to maintain operations. Additionally, should a government continue to spend itself into debt, due to a lowered tax rate, this can grossly hamper the economy. On the other hand, raising taxes can slow the economy, but allow the government more cash with function with.
A special case is a fully Communist government, where all goods and services are considered to belong to the government itself (which is believed to be a representative of the people), and thus, the tax rate is effectively 100%- the government owns everything, for the people.

GNP- GNP, or Gross National Product is a measure of the total market value of all the goods, services and industry of a nation, in any given year. The bigger the GNP, the stronger that nation's economy, and the better the nation's living conditions; though this is somewhat mitigated on a per capita basis, by the overall population. For example, modern-day China has a massive GNP, based on the massive amounts of goods that China produces on the backs of the common laborer, but the quality of living of the average laborer is quite poor. On the other hand, tiny Switzerland's GNP is dwarfed by that of China, but it's people live very, very well.

National Facilities- These are the actual locations of a nation's key arms factories, shipyards, munitions plants, research facilities and the like. Factories that produce aircraft and land vehicles are defined to specific locations, and are publicly known, though the actual line of production there is not necessarily public knowledge. More than one industrial center may be at a given location. National facilities are also rated by the amount of production that they can handle; this can be upgraded or downgraded as described in the combat rules, and in the construction section.
Note that a facility may retool to build a different line of production, but this requires a full quarter, and bears a cost in materials and cash.

Shipyard- Shipyards produce sea-going vessels, from the tiniest dinghies and torpedo boats, to fleets of merchant marines, battleships and super carriers. Shipyards are not dedicated to any one type of vessel, and can alternate between types as needed.
Research Facility- A research facility is a plant designed to perform research, and create cutting edge technologies. Each Research Facility may be used to increase a technological level of one category, once per quarter; or may produce 'cutting edge' arms that the nation is capable of, such as chemical, biological, or atomic weapons. Research facilities do not have ratings.
Training Camp- Training camps are used to teach combat and survival skills to a nation's military. Without spending time in training camps, a nation's military troops are little more than an armed mob; with adequate training, one might find a very skilled and effective force. Each ten rating points allow for the training of one brigade of troops.
Port Facility- Ports are coastal cities which have significant resources and industry dedicated to the care and maintenance of naval unit, be they military or civilian. Each ten rating points of the facility allows to port to tend to one naval command.
Airfield- Airfields are much like ports for air units, save that they are usually in remote locations (major cities may house air units for free), and that each ten points of airfield rating enables an airfield to tend one air command.
Fortresses- Fortresses are prepared defensive fortifications designed to slow or halt an enemies advance, in the event of an invasion. Typically placed in a strategically important route.

Technological Development Chart The technological development chart represents the comparative level of advancement the nation has made in certain areas of research and infrastructure improvement. Once a nation has paid the appropriate cost to advance to the next level, the nation may do so, automatically. Each category may be advanced only one point in any given quarter, but once the advancement has been made, that nation may begin producing goods of the appropriate level- given that all other requirements have been met.

Agriculture- Agricultural developments improve the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of a nation's ability to farm and raise produce, meats and processed agricultural goods. It has a direct effect on the agricultural production of a nation.
Airframes Airframes developments improve the speed, effectiveness, and types of aircraft a nation can field, both in it's civilian and military air arms.
Armor- Armor developments are primarily metallurgical enhancements that improve a land or naval vehicle's protection against attack. The more developed a nation's armor technology, the more effective the unit's defensive capability.
Electricity- Mastering electricity and electronics enables a nation to make other advancements, and yields many of it's own. Early levels yield telegraph, telephone and wireless technology, while higher ones allow for the invention of radar, advanced avionics in aircraft, and electronic computers.
Gunnery- The gunnery developments reflect improvements in small arms and large-bore cannons that improve the effectiveness, firepower, range and rate of fire of weaponry. At the earliest levels, this is reflected in the development of breach-loaders; while at higher levels, it might indicate that a nation has developed sabot or jacketed munitions.
Industry- Industry describes those advancements that allow a nation to produce goods quicker, more reliably, and cheaper than their competition. Automation, robotics, assembly lines and the such are heavy indicators in the Industrial levels. The higher an industry rating a nation has, the more industrial and manufactured goods the nation can produce.
Land Engines- Land engine developments indicate what type of land-based transportation a nation possesses, as well as the infrastructure needed to support it. From steam engines, to gasoline internal combustion, to diesel trucks and highways; the greater the land engine technology a nation possesses, the better it's land-based trade, the faster it's mechanized and motorized forces, and the better able the nation is able to move goods from one quarter to another.
Mathematics- Mathematics developments are indicators of how advanced the nation's automated calculation technology is. From simple adding machines to supercomputers; the more highly-evolved the nation's difference engines, the better it is able to control and utilize other developments.
Naval Technology- The naval technological level represents the skill and advancements the nation has made with regards to seaframes, propulsion and tactics. The higher a nation's technological development in naval technology, the more capable the nation is of producing and maintaining sophisticated naval weapons, and advanced merchant marine vessels. From rudimentary submarines to nuclear supercarriers; this is reflected in a nation's naval advancements.
Physics/Chemistry- The Physics/Chemistry ratings of the nation indicates how astute and skilled the nation's scientific workers are, how advanced the facilities they operate are, and how capable the nation is as processing and creating new scientific achievements. Examples include the development of weapons of mass destruction such as bioweapons, nuclear weapons and chemical arms; how quickly a nation could gear up it's power facilities to use advancements in coal, oil and natural gas technologies; and how able a nation is to restrict pollution.
Rocketry- Rocketry advancements are developments with regards to manned and unmanned ballistic flight. Early developments might allow the creation of weapons of war such as the V-2 rocket, air-to-air 'dumb' rockets and the like; while later developments might include guided missiles, cruise missiles, permanent satellites, and manned 'Moon missions"

Military Data- On the public table, military data will reflect the general size and make-up of a nation's military. It is quite vague, and only intelligence operations might reveal better examples of actual deployments; though during times of war, troops on the front may well be reported on the public list to some extent.
On the private sheet, the actual formations will be listed, along with their primary base of operation, and command-control structure.

Patents Held- The Patents Held listing describes the actual military vehicles the nation holds the plans to produce. Nations may buy, sell and trade patent rights amongst themselves as they wish, but the nation may still only produce those units that their industry is technologically capable of producing. For example, in the actual timeline, the United States might have sold the patent to build P-51 Mustangs to Bolivia in 1945; but with the sorry state of the Bolivian industry, the patent might as well have been for an intergalactic starship. Bolivia's industrial complex simply would have been incapable of handling the requirements of constructing either.