Interest group

An interest group with a short summary of its leader, its ideologies and traits, and its political status.

Interest groups represent an association of pops with shared ideologies. Interest groups support laws that align with their ideologies – or at least are more aligned than the current one – and the support of an interest group is the most common way to start a law change.

There are eight types of interest groups which are broadly similar in all countries, but may vary in some countries, based on factors such as the state religion or cultural history of a country, society technologies that have been researched, or events that have occurred.

Each interest group is led by a character and the ideology of that leader is also highly influential.

All individuals in all pops are members of an interest group,  politically unaligned, or disenfranchised, with the ratio in each based on factors such as profession, wealth,  literacy, and discrimination. Importantly, any given pop often has individuals supporting several different interest groups.

Base interest groups[edit | edit source]

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Interest groups form the nucleus of Victoria 3's political gameplay. There are 8 interest groups in the game (and an additional  politically unaligned group):

Interest groups' names may differ depending on the circumstances in the country, particularly for the  devout. For example, the Siamese  devout interest group is Theravada Monks, the Japanese  armed forces interest group is Samurai, and the Russian  landowners interest group is Gentry Assembly. These names occasionally change as circumstances in the country change.

Ideology[edit | edit source]

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Each interest group has a set of core ideologies that determine its basic stances towards the laws a country can enact or has enacted. Interest groups always endorse changes that move laws towards their preference and oppose changes that do the opposite.

In addition to the core ideologies, each interest group is affected by its  leader's personal ideology, which can add to or even override the core ideologies. For example, while the  Landowners are typically staunch conservatives, if their leader is a Market Liberal, they'll support changes to liberalize the economy – at least until the next leadership change.

The default ideology setup for the interest groups are as follows:

Interest group	Armed Forces	Devout	Industrialists	Intelligentsia	Landowners	Petite Bourgeoisie	Rural Folk	Trade Unions
Base ideologies	Jingoist Loyalist Patriotic	Moralist Patriarchal Pious	Individualist Laissez-Faire Plutocratic	Anti-Clerical Anti-Slavery Liberal Republican	Paternalistic Patriarchal Stratocratic	Meritocratic Patriotic Reactionary	Agrarian Isolationist Particularist	Anti-Slavery Egalitarian Populist Proletarian

The following table lists all changes to the standard ideologies by country. Hover over an ideology icon for its name or click to go to its position on the ideology page.

Flavor Ideologies by Country Expand

CountryInterest group
Austria
Brazil (Only with )
China
East India
Great Britain
Hawaii
Heavenly Kingdom
Japan[1]
Papal States
Prussia
Punjab
ExpandBuddhist Countries   Altai  Bhutan  Burma  Buryatia  Cambodia  Ceylon  Champassak  Chiang Mai  Hathawaddy  Kalmykia  Karen  Laos  Ladakh  Luang Prabang  Manchuria  Mongolia  Siam  Sikkim  Tibet  Tuva  Vientiane
ExpandCompany Countries   Alaska  East Indies Hudson’s Bay Company Dynamic company countries
Confucian Countries  Korea  Dai Nam
ExpandHan Chinese Countries   Anhui  Da Cheng  Formosa  Guizhou  Hunan  Lanfang  Shandong  Shanxi  Sichuan  Xibei  Yue  Zhili
ExpandDixie Countries   CSA  Carolina  Deseret  Florida  Georgia  North Carolina  South Carolina  Texas  USA
ExpandHindu Countries   Alwar  Assam  Bali  Baroda  Bastar  Bhavnagar  Bhopal  Bikaner  Bihar  Carnatic  Cochin  Cooch Behar  Dharampur  Dhundhar  Garhwal  Gujarat  Gwalior  Idar  Indore  Jaisalmer  Jeypore  Jhansi  Kafiristan  Kolhapur  Kotah  Kutch  Manipur  Marwar  Mayurbhanj  Mewar  Mysore  Nagpur  Narsinghpur  Nawanagar  Nepal  Orchha  Patna  Pudukottai  Rewah  Satara  Surguja  Travancore
ExpandLatin Countries   Argentina  Bolivia  Central America  Chile  Colombia  Costa Rica  Ecuador  El Salvador  Guatemala  Honduras  Los Altos  Mexico  Nicaragua  North Peru  Panama  Paraguay  South Peru  Uruguay  Venezuela
ExpandOriental Orthodox Countries   Armenia  Begemder  Borana  Ethiopia  Gojjam  Shewa  Tigray  Welega  Wello
ExpandOrthodox Countries   Bulgaria  Crete  Cyprus  Erzya-Moksha  Georgia  Greece  Ionian Islands  Karelia  Mari El  Moldavia  Montenegro  Romania  Serbia  Udmurtia  Wallachia  Yugoslavia
ExpandPolish Countries   Galicia  Krakow  Poland  Poland-Lithuania
ExpandRussian Orthodox Countries[2]   Belarus  Chuvashia  Don Cossack Host  Galicia-Lodomeria  Russia  Ukraine  Ural
ExpandSpanish Countries   Andalusia  Castile  Spain  Philippines
ExpandSouth Asian Heritage Countries   Alwar  Assam  Awadh  Baroda  Bastar  Bengal  Bhavnagar  Bhopal  Bikaner  Bihar  Carnatic  Chitral  Cochin  Cooch Behar  Dharampur  Dhundhar  Garhwal  Gujarat  Gwalior  Hindustan  Hyderabad  Idar  Indore  Indusstan  Jaisalmer  Jeypore  Jhansi  Junagadh  Kafiristan  Kashmir  Khairpur  Kolhapur  Kotah  Kurnool  Kutch  Maldives  Marwar  Mayurbhanj  Mewar  Mysore  Nagpur  Narsinghpur  Nawanagar  Nepal  Orchha  Palanpur  Patiala  Patna  Pudukottai  Punjab  Rewah  Satara  Sindh  Sri Lanka  Surguja  Travancore
ExpandYankee Countries   FSA  California  Michigan  New England  Oregon

Note: Interest groups' starting ideologies may differ based on country or law. For example, landowners gain the Pro-Slavery ideology if Slavery is allowed in the country.

Interest groups in certain countries may have unique ideologies reflecting the country's religion, culture, and history – such as the Confucian Scholars interest group in Qing China who support a Confucian ideology instead of the typical Moralist and Pious ones.

Certain journal entries or other circumstances can change an interest group's core ideologies. For example, after researching Feminism, the  Intelligentsia and  Trade Unions both start supporting Women's Suffrage.

Leader[edit | edit source]

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All interest groups are led by a character. Interest group leaders gain the  Politician role and apply certain effects of their character traits to their interest group.

The leader's ideology is also added to the interest group; if the leader's ideology differs from any of the interest group's core ideologies in its law stances, the leader's ideology takes precedence. This can even cause an interest group to support laws it typically opposes, so long as that character leads the interest group.

When an interest group's leader dies, retires, or is exiled, if any existing commanders support that interest group, the commander with the highest popularity has a chance75% for  Armed Forces;
50% for  Landowners or  Rural Folk;
25% for the rest
Multiplied by the character's popularity
Further reduced if the ratio of commanders to units is more than 1/20 to become the new leader. Otherwise, a new character is generated as the new leader.

When a new leader is generated, the leader is given a random ideology from all valid possibilities. Each interest group has a set of default possible ideologies and plus ideologies from political movements. These possibilities are further restricted by various conditions such as country, technologies, and interest group – the  Landowners can never generate a random Abolitionist, for example.

Interest group	Armed Forces	Devout	Industrialists	Intelligentsia	Landowners	Petite Bourgeoisie	Rural Folk	Trade Unions
Base ideologies	Moderate Bonapartist Orléanist	Moderate Legitimist Traditionalist	Moderate Bonapartist Market Liberal Orléanist Protectionist	Moderate Despotic Utopian Humanitarian Orléanist Radical Reformer Republican Sovereignist Utopian	Moderate Legitimist Traditionalist	Moderate Bonapartist Jingoist Legitimist Orléanist Protectionist Sovereignist Traditionalist	Moderate Bonapartist Legitimist Pacifist	Moderate Radical Reformer Utopian

The current potential ideologies and their chance can be seen on each interest group's details screen.

Clout[edit | edit source]

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Clout is the zero-sum game of political influence in a country. Each interest group has a share of clout based on the political power of pops that support it. An interest group's clout determines how much support it provides for enacting or opposing laws, as well as how much  legitimacy the interest group can add to the government. The total clout of all interest groups is always 100%, as it represents the relative strength of each group in the country.

Clout also determines each interest group's classification within the country – whether they are considered powerful, influential, or marginalized.

An interest group becomes marginalized if its clout drops below 4%. It becomes influential again if its clout increases above 5%.

Similarly, an interest group becomes powerful if its clout rises above 20%, and influential again if its clout drops below 18%.

Interest groups  in government, as well as the interest group supported by the country's  ruler, cannot become marginalized, even if their clout is below 4%. For example, Oldenburg's starting ruler supports the  Petite Bourgeoisie, which has little to no clout. As a result, the Petite Bourgeoisie remain influential, not marginalized.

Clout comes primarily from the political strength of pops, but it can also come from votes – if the country has elections. Further modifiers, such as laws, institutions, and character traits can increase or decrease an interest group's clout.

Political strength[edit | edit source]

Individuals inside pops contribute political strength to the interest group they support, with the amount they contribute dependent on multiple factors, primarily their wealth, acceptance and the status (and votes) they are offered under the nation's power structure. For example, a single wealthy aristocrat in an Oligarchy provides hundreds or even thousands times the political strength of a poor laborer.

Some individuals have no political strength at all, usually due to being disenfranchised under the nation's laws, such as people of a religion or culture that is discriminated against, or dependents in countries that have not enacted Women's Suffrage or Old Age Pension. These pops are "outside the system", unable to demand reform through the regular political system of interest groups, and instead must rely on political movements to put pressure on the government.

Attraction[edit | edit source]

All pops have attraction scores towards each interest group and divide up their political strength proportionally among them. Some portion of the pop may also be politically unaligned. The interest group leader's  popularity also affects attraction, scaled from +25% at 100 popularity to −25% at −100 popularity. Interest groups in  government also have increased attraction for pops with  loyalists while those in  opposition do so for pops with  radicals; in each case up to +25% scaled by the percentage of loyalist or radical in the pop.

Not all pops can be attracted to all interest groups. Various pop conditions, such as discrimination status, religion, culture, employment, literacy, but primarily profession determine which pops are able to support which interest group. The pop divides its politically active support among the interest groups according to their relative weight, as determined by the table below.

Interest group	Pop requirements	Base weight	Weight modifiers
Armed Forces	One of: Is  Second-class citizen or  Full Acceptance status Profession is Aristocrats, Officers, or Servicemen	0	+25 if  Second-class citizen or  Full Acceptance status, and: +50 if Colonial Resettlement and state is not incorporated x0.5 if Professional Army and not Officers or Servicemen. +75 if  Middle Strata and employed in military industries +150 if  Upper Strata and employed in military industries
Devout	Follows the state religion Is not  Atheist	25	−0.2 per  literacy ×0.1 if State Atheism ×1.5 if State Religion ×1.25 if Freedom of Conscience ×1.25 if Corporatism with State Religion or Freedom of Conscience ×1.20 to ×2 if Religious Schools per  Education investment level
Industrialists		0	+1 per Standard of Living
Intelligentsia	Literacy is over 25%	0	+0.2 per  literacy (0 if < 50%)
Landowners		0
Petite Bourgeoisie	Culture would be accepted under National Supremacy One of: Is employed in Manufacturing, Service, Urban Facilities, Resource Extraction, or Government All of: Is  Middle Strata Is employed in Agriculture, Ranching, or Plantations Law is Homesteading or Commercialized Agriculture	0	+25 if  Lower Strata +50 if  Middle Strata +25 + Standard of Living if not employed in Agriculture, Ranching or Plantations
Rural Folk	Is employed in non-mining or rubber rural buildings	100
Trade Unions	One of: Not employed in Agriculture, Ranching, or Plantations All of: Is  Lower Strata Is not employed in subsistence farms or ranches Law is Collectivized Agriculture or Commercialized Agriculture	0	+50 if  Lower Strata and not employed in Agriculture, Ranching or Plantations. +25 if  Middle Strata and not employed in Agriculture, Ranching or Plantations. Final weight multiplied by: x0.5 without Egalitarianism x0.5 without Labor Movement

Attraction modifiers by Profession Collapse

Academics				+250
Aristocrats	+10 +25 with Age of Caudillos +50 with Peasant Levies +100 if pop is  Sikh			+25 +50 with Hereditary Bureaucrats +100 if employed in administrative work	+250
Bureaucrats	+100 if Alaska and is a chartered company			+150 ×0.25 if Alaska and is a chartered company		+50 with Elected Bureaucrats
Capitalists			+250	+50 +100 if employed in administrative work
Clergymen		+250		+100 if employed in administrative work	+50
Clerks				+50		+100
Engineers			+50			+50
Farmers					+25 + Standard of Living x1.25 with Homesteading x4 if in a  slave state	+25 if both: Has Homesteading Not in a  slave state	+200
Laborers								+50
Machinists								+100
Officers	+250				+25
Peasants		+100					+200
Servicemen	+100 +50 with Professional Army x0.75 to x1.25 based on Military Wages
Shopkeepers			+50			+250
Slaves

Expand East India has a number of additional or alternative weights and conditions.

Conditions IG Conditions  Devout Pop is  Hindu  Industrialists Any of Pop has European Heritage culture Pop is  Bureaucrats Pop is  Capitalists Pop is  Clerks Pop is  Engineers Pop is  Shopkeepers  Petite Bourgeoisie As default, and also allows South Asian heritage culture pops  Capitalists

Additional weights for European Heritage General ×0.1 ×0.1 ×0.1 +250 +250 +250 ×0.25 +250 +250 ×0.25 +250 +250 Additional weights for non-European Heritage General +25 ×1.5 ×0.05 +75 +25 ×1.5 ×0.05 ×0.05 +75

Approval[edit | edit source]

Interest groups have a level of approval, which has two main sources: stances on laws, and pop loyalists and radicals. Other factors may affect approval as well, such as the player's choices in certain events. Total approval is capped between −20 and +20.

Each interest group and its leader's ideologies set its stance towards various laws from on a five-point scale, from Strongly Disapprove (−2) to Strongly Approve (+2). Approval from laws is the sum of all stances, capped at ±5.

In addition to the stance on enacted laws, proposed and recent law changes have an increased effect on an interest group's approval. A change which moves one step along their stance scale adds ±5, two steps adds ±10, and three or more steps adds ±20. This effect is added throughout the proposed change, and when a law is fully enacted, it remains and decays over five years. Cancelling the proposed law change immediately removes this effect. The effect of law changes on approval is not directly capped and can stack when changing several laws in a short time. Certain law groups multiply the effect of law changes on approval, but this is always capped at ±20.

The percentage of pops supporting an interest group which are loyalists or radicals also affects approval, up to ±15 if all of the pops are loyalists or radicals. The actual approval effect is determined by the percentage of pop political strength, if more political strength comes from loyalist pops, it is positive; otherwise if more comes from radicals, it is negative. This scaled by the relative amount, for example if two-thirds (66%) is loyalist and one-third (33%) radicals, the approval effect is +5 as the loyalists provide +10 which is offset by the radicals' −5.

Government and military wages affect certain interest groups by ±1 for each step above or below normal wages. Government wages affect  Intelligentsia and  Petite Bourgeoisie approval, and military wages affect  Armed Forces approval.

If a group is powerful and in opposition, its approval drops by −1.

Finally, there are many events, especially surrounding law changes, that add temporary approval modifiers to various interest groups.

Lobbies[edit | edit source]

Political lobbies are a coalition of interest groups that support or oppose friendly diplomacy with a certain country. Each lobby has an  appeasement value from −10 to +10. Interest groups in a lobby gain or lose approval equal to the appeasement. An interest group can be in only one lobby at a time.

Effects[edit | edit source]

If an interest group's approval is −10 or less, they are Angry. They cannot be added to the government, but do not leave it if they are already in it. They also contribute their clout to the radicalization of any movement they support, possibly starting a revolution.

From −9 to −5, a group is Unhappy, activating their negative trait.

From −4 to +4, a group is Neutral, providing no special effect.

From +5 to +9, a group is Happy, activating their first positive trait. They also stop backing any movements.

At +10 or above, a group is Loyal, activating their second positive trait.

Traits[edit | edit source]

Each group has three traits associated with it, one negative, and two positive. If a group's approval is −5 or less, its negative trait is activated and remains so until approval reaches −2. Approval of at least +5 activates their first positive trait (deactivated if it drops to +2), and +10 or more activates their second positive trait (deactivated if it drops to +7). A trait does not deactivate until approval has changed by more than 2 points (e.g., at least −2 to deactivate the negative trait).

Traits of a powerful group are twice as powerful, while marginalized groups cannot activate their traits at all.

Below is a table of the default Interest Group traits, some countries may have slightly different ones, but generally only one or two are changed even then.

Interest group	Unhappy trait	Happy trait	Loyal trait
Armed Forces	Materiel Waste +15% Military goods cost	Veteran Consultation +10% Military research speed	Patriotic Fervor +10% Unit defense +10% Unit offense
Devout	Pious Fiction −10% Education access	Divine Right +10% Authority	Be Fruitful and Multiply +2.5% Birth rate
Industrialists	Tax Avoidance −10% Manufacturing tax income	Engines of Progress +10% Production research speed	Job Creators +10% Capitalist investment pool contribution efficiency
Intelligentsia	Social Criticism −10% Prestige	Avant-garde +10% Society research speed	Propagandists +15% Migration attraction
Landowners	Noble Privileges −10% Agriculture, ranching, plantations tax income	Family Ties +10% Influence	Noblesse Oblige +10% Aristocrat investment pool contribution efficiency
Petite Bourgeoisie	Xenophobia −10% Influence +10% Radicalism increases for  discriminated Open Prejudice, Cultural Erasure, and Violent Hostility statuses	Middle Managers +10% Bureaucracy	Treasury Bonds −10% Loan interest rate
Rural Folk	Old Ways −10% Technology spread	Honest Work +10% Agriculture, ranching, plantations throughput	Farmer's Markets +10% Infrastructure
Trade Unions	Work-to-rule −10% State construction efficiency	Industrial Organizers +10% Manufacturing industries throughput	Solidarity +5% Workforce ratio

Certain countries, cultures and religion groups have unique interest group traits, listed here.

Country/Culture	Interest group	Unhappy trait	Happy trait	ExpandLoyal trait
Austria	Austrian Aristocracy	Generic	Generic	Wiener Walzer +15% Prestige
Brazil	Armed Forces	Coronelismo +10% Radicals from political movements	Clube Militar +5% Authority	Generic
	Industrialists	Generic	The Goods Must Flow +10% Infrastructure	Generic
	Intelligentsia	Generic	Bacharéis −10% Radicals from political movements	Brasilidade +10% Prestige
	Landowners	Generic	Fazenda Ibicaba +10% Migration attraction	Latifúndios +10% Agriculture and plantations tax income
	Rural Folk	Generic	Plantation Work +10% Agriculture throughput +15% Plantations throughput	Núcleos Coloniais +15% Migration attraction
China	Armed Forces	Parochial Leadership +10% Morale loss −10% Morale recovery	Newly-Created Army −15% Military goods cost	Self-Strengthening +10% Military research speed
	Literati	Generic	Generic	Restoration +10% Authority
East India	East India Company	Wounded Honor +15% Mortality from turmoil −10% Authority	Stamped and Signed +10% Bureaucracy	Responsible Governance +5% Qualifications growth −10% Law enactment time
	Zamindars	Summon No Zamindars +5% Population bureaucracy cost −5% Authority	Famine Reserves −10% Agriculture building mortality	Profitable Estates +15% Aristocrat investment pool contribution efficiency
	Bhadralok	Swadesh −10% Capitalists investment pool contribution efficiency −10% Shopkeepers investment pool contribution efficiency	Lines of Credit −10% Loan interest rate	Cooperative Agencies +10% Manufacturing industries throughput
	Ryots	Of the Sovereign Alone +5% Radicals from political movements −5% Agriculture tax income	Imandari +10% Agriculture, ranching, plantations throughput	Bazaar Bargains +10% Infrastructure
East India	Presidency Armies	Divided Ranks −10% Morale recovery +10% Morale loss	Imperial Service +15% Conscriptable battalions +10% Training rate	Veerta +10% Unit defense +10% Unit offense
	Civil Servants	Swaraj +5% Radicalism increases for  discriminated Open Prejudice, Cultural Erasure, and Violent Hostility statuses +10% Political movement activism	Civil Service +5% Bureaucracy +5% Authority	Westernization −5% Radicalism increases for  discriminated Open Prejudice, Cultural Erasure, and Violent Hostility statuses
Egypt	Fellahin	Generic	Fellahin +15% Agriculture throughput +15% Plantations throughput	Generic
	Petite Bourgeoisie	Generic	Effendi +10% Prestige	Generic
France	Armed Forces	Generic	Generic	Élan Vital +15% Unit offense
France	Industrialists	Generic	Generic	Ventilate, Unify and Beautify +5% Prestige +10% State construction efficiency
	Intelligentsia	Generic	Generic	Les Beaux-Arts +10% Prestige
	Petite Bourgeoisie	Generic	Haute Finance −7.5% Loan interest rate	Master of the House −10% State penalties from turmoil +15% Loyalists from political movements
	Trade Unions	Generic	Generic	Bourse du Travail +5% Workforce ratio +5% Political strength when receiving welfare
Great Britain	Petite Bourgeoisie	Bah Humbug −10% Influence +15% Radicals from political movements	Civil Service +5% Bureaucracy +5% Authority	The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street −15% Loan interest rate
Hispanoamerican countries Expand Primary culture must have European Heritage and Hispanophone but not Iberian	Armed Forces	Generic	Generic	El Buen Jefe +10% Authority
Japan	Industrialists	Zaibatsu Withdrawal −10% Capitalist investment pool contribution efficiency	Generic	Zaibatsu Cooperation +10% Manufacturing tax income
Ottoman Empire	Petite Bourgeoisie	Generic	Effendi +10% Prestige	Reorganization +10% Bureaucracy
Punjab	Khalsaji	Generic	Khalsa +10% Authority	Generic
	Jats	Generic	Generic	Khalsa Panth +10% Infrastructure
Prussia	Junkers	Generic	Generic	Junkerdom +10% Authority
Russia	Gentry Assembly	Bad Boyars −10% Authority	The Velvet Book +10% Influence	Profitable Estates +15% Aristocrat investment pool contribution efficiency
	Rural Folk	Generic	Generic	Obshchina +10% Agriculture tax income
Russia Ottoman Empire	Intelligentsia	Crisis of Identity −15% Assimilation	Generic	Generic
South Indian Heritage	Zamindars	Generic	Famine Reserves −10% Agriculture building mortality	Profitable Estates +15% Aristocrat investment pool contribution efficiency
	Ryots	Of the Sovereign Alone +5% Radicals from political movements −5% Agriculture tax income	Imandari +10% Agriculture, ranching, plantations throughput	Bazaar Bargains +10% Infrastructure
Sweden	Industrialists	Generic	Generic	Kommerskollegium +10% Mining tax income +5% Capitalist investment pool contribution efficiency
	Petite Bourgeoisie	Generic	Bergsbrukens Valdistrikten +10% Mines throughput	Generic
USA	Southern Planters	Generic	Generic	Patrician Philanthropy +5% Prestige +15% Loyalists from political movements

Devout	Unhappy trait	Happy trait	ExpandLoyal trait
Gelugpa	Generic	Generic	Temporal Mandate −15% Government ideology penalty
Hindu  Mahayana  Theravada  Confucian East India	Generic	Generic	Asceticism −15% Radicals from political movements
Jewish	Traditsye −10% Technology spread	Yeshivot +10% Education access	The Best Revenge −2.5% Mortality
Protestant	Generic	Generic	Work Ethic +5% Company throughput bonus
Shinto	Haibutsu Kishaku +10% Radicalism increases for  discriminated Open Prejudice, Cultural Erasure, and Violent Hostility statuses	Secular Shrine Theory +15% Conversion	Heavenly Sovereign +15% Authority
Sikh	Generic	Rehat +10% Conscriptable battalions	Kar Seva +10% Loyalists from political movements
Sunni  Shiite	Generic	Sharia +10% Authority	Da'wat +20% Conversion
Ottoman Empire	Generic	Mecelle −10% Decree cost

Government and Opposition[edit | edit source]

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The  government is composed of the interest groups in power. The interest groups in government generally determine which laws can be enacted. All interest groups not in government make up the  opposition. All eight interest groups can potentially be put in government together, although this is inadvisable due to the low  legitimacy that would result.

 Marginalized interest groups cannot be added to the government. Similarly, insurrectionary interest groups supporting a revolutionary movement cannot be added to the government.

Removing an interest group from the government  radicalizes 25% of pops supporting that interest group, except immediately following an election.

Parties[edit | edit source]

Countries with voting and elections also have political parties, alliances of interest groups with similar concerns. Parties count as a single group for the purposes of legitimacy, and so allow more interest groups to be added to the government without penalty. However, in order to add or remove a party from government, all of its member interest groups must be added or removed together. There is no penalty for leaving an interest group out when it wants to join a party, except that it is impossible to reform government while a party is "split" this way, without unifying the party in government or in opposition.

Parties gain additional strength from votes of the last election. Pops do not vote for interest groups directly but rather for political parties, therefore interest groups that do not join a party miss out on a large amount of potential political strength.

References[edit | edit source]