Demographics

The demographics system models voter populations in each state. It is the foundation of election mechanics — every vote in every election flows through demographic groups and their alignment with candidates. Demographics are a voter and election mechanic, not a corporation mechanic.

The 12 Voter Archetypes

Each state's electorate is divided into 12 mutually exclusive voter archetypes. Every voter belongs to exactly one archetype. Each archetype has an ideological lean (economic and social, on a −5 to +5 scale) and a turnout rate. The table below shows the national default leans — but see Layer 1: where the numbers come from below: in each state the actual leans are derived from that state's own census makeup, so the same archetype leans differently in different states.

The population percentage of each archetype varies by state — a rural state has far more Rural Traditionalists than a coastal metro area.

Layer 1: Where the Numbers Come From

Underneath the archetypes sits the Layer 1 census: every state carries real demographic shares across five dimensions — race, age, education, wealth, and ideology. Each archetype is defined as a weighted blend of these Layer-1 groups (Young Renters are mostly young + no-college + low-wealth; Secular Professionals are college/graduate + middle/high wealth + progressive-leaning).

Three things are derived from the census, per state:

• Composition — how large each archetype is. Layer-1 shares are multiplied by each group's turnout rate, so the archetype mix reflects voters, not raw population.
• Lean — each archetype's economic/social position is the share-weighted average of its constituent Layer-1 groups' positions. Every era has a base position table, and states carry their own per-group position overrides on top, so Evangelicals in Texas genuinely sit to the right of Evangelicals in Massachusetts — regional political texture emerges from the census instead of one national table.
• Turnout — each archetype's baseline turnout is blended from its Layer-1 groups' participation rates (seniors vote more than 18–29s), with a civic-engagement multiplier for groups facing structural barriers.

Eras. Every playable era (1953–2023) has its own census bundles and position tables — a 1979 world has a 1979 electorate, not a reweighted 2019 one. Derived leans are calibrated against real historical election results per era and country, and an automated calibration suite keeps them honest.

How Demographics Drive Elections

During elections, candidates compete for votes from each archetype through a multi-factor formula:

1. Reach

How much of the turned-out voters a candidate can actually contact and persuade.

2. Appeal

Where econDiff and socialDiff are the absolute differences between the candidate's policy positions and the archetype's leans. Maximum appeal is 50. Candidates who match an archetype's positions score high; candidates far from their positions score low.

3. Approval Scalar

Voters won't support candidates they don't approve of, regardless of policy alignment.

4. Party Organization (general elections)

In general elections, each party gets a multiplier equal to its normalized share of the state's total Org:

A party with 60 Org in a state where the total is 100 gets a 0.6× multiplier; a party with no presence in the state gets 0 (no votes). Two more general-election factors layer on top:

• Reg resistance (1.0×–1.3×) — own-Reg makes voters harder to peel away through persuasion
• Support mood (0.6×–1.4×) — short-term candidate momentum from debates / endorsements / scandals; neutral 1.0× at Support=50

In primary elections (intra-party), Org is applied as a uniform neutral 1× instead — within-party normalization would cancel out since all primary candidates share the same Org.

5. Vote Allocation

Within each archetype, candidates split the group's votes proportional to their relative appeal × reach × approvalScalar × orgShare × regResistance × supportMood × infamyMult in general elections. Primaries drop the three general-only factors (orgShare / regResistance / supportMood) — Org is a neutral 1× intra-party. Either way, the group votes as a bloc — each candidate gets a fraction of the group's total turned-out voters.

Total votes are summed across all archetypes.

State Political Lean

Each state has an overall political lean calculated from its demographics:

1. For each archetype: multiply population share × turnout to get voter weight
2. Compute turnout-weighted average economic lean and social lean
3. Average the two leans and clamp to −5..+5

Labels use the shared −5..+5 position ruler, rounded to the nearest step: 0 = Centrist, ±1 = Center-Left / Center-Right, ±2 = Lean Left / Lean Right, ±3 = Left / Right, and so on. Post-calibration state leans typically span about −2.5 to +2.5.

This display label appears on the state page and the political map. It is for display only — elections use raw position differences, not the display lean.

Turnout Manipulation

Candidates and parties can increase (or decrease) how many voters from each archetype actually vote. Turnout modifiers sit on top of baseline turnout and range from −20% to +20%.

Party GOTV Spending

Party budgets include a gotvBudgetPerTurn that automatically boosts turnout each turn for aligned archetypes. A party only boosts archetypes within 2 points of the party's position on both economic and social axes — so the DEM party (ideologically left) boosts Young Renters and College Liberals, not Evangelicals.

Boost formula per archetype per turn:

Diminishing returns: at a +10% existing modifier, a 1% boost becomes only 0.5% effective.

All modifiers decay 2% per turn toward 0, requiring sustained spending to maintain boosts.

Player Canvassing

The canvassing action targets a specific archetype in your active campaign state (home state by default; presidential candidates use their travel/primary campaign state):

• Cost: 100 funds + 1 action point
• Base boost: 0.05 percentage points
• Alignment multiplier: Perfect policy alignment = 1.0×, distance 10 = 0.1× minimum
• Campaign season bonus: 2× effective during the 4 turns before an election
• Effect: Immediate (not queued)

You are most effective canvassing archetypes that already align with your positions. Mismatched canvassing is not only less effective — it's a waste of actions.

Demographic Alignment and Character Policy

Candidates declare economic and social policy positions on a −5 to +5 scale. These are compared directly to each archetype's leans in that state when computing appeal. The closer a candidate's positions are to an archetype's leans, the higher their appeal with that group.

This means:

• A candidate at (−4, −4) naturally appeals to College Liberals and Young Renters
• The same candidate poorly serves Evangelicals and Small Business owners
• A centrist candidate (0, 0) has moderate appeal everywhere but strong appeal nowhere
• Because leans are state-derived, the same platform lands differently state to state — poll locally rather than assuming the national table

Winning elections requires either mobilizing your natural coalition (GOTV + canvassing) or moderating your positions to pick up swing groups like Soccer Moms or Union & Trades.

Polling

Players can use poll actions to check demographic standings before an election. A full demographic poll breaks down support by every archetype in a state, showing which groups are strongly for, weakly for, or opposed to your candidacy.

See also: Election Mechanics, Government Approval, Campaign Strategy