“I love democracy. I love the Republic.”
– Chancellor Palpatine
The Constitution of a town or nation is its codified governance and electoral laws. It determines a town or nation's Government Type and, if it is a democracy, how elections are conducted.
It can be accessed via the command /t constitution (for towns) and /n constitution (for nations).
¶ Government Types
The available government types are:
Non-Democracies
- Autocracy (default)
- Oligarchy
Democracies
- Constitutional Monarchy
- Republic
By default, every town and nation is an Autocracy.
- The first switch from Autocracy to either Constitutional Monarchy or Republic is immediate. Subsequent switches take 7 days to complete.
- There is a 30-day cooldown between switches.
After an Autocracy becomes a democracy, an election will begin immediately.
Non-democratic governments instantly amend their constitution. In contrast, democracies hold a Referendum where voters must approve the amendments.
¶ Autocracy
In an Autocracy, absolute power is vested in the leader/mayor. There is no election cycle and residents can be freely appointed to any rank.
¶ Oligarchy
In an Oligarchy, an unelected leader/mayor rules beside the co-leaders/co-mayors they appoint. Appointing and demoting co-leaders/co-mayors requires a referendum. However, unlike in democracies, only the leader/mayor and the co-leaders/co-mayors can vote in these referendums.
¶ Constitutional Monarchy
In a Constitutional Monarchy, an unelected leader/mayor rules beside a single elected co-leader/co-mayor.
The leader/mayor cannot directly appoint the co-leader/co-mayor; the position must be elected to. They can, however, demote the co-leader/co-mayor. Doing so triggers an early election.
Nations that are constitutional monarchies receive the following effects:
- Collective Security: -25% diplomatic point cost of alliances
- Inclusive Institutions: +0.25% nation resource bonus per eligible voter
- Democratic Peace Theory: +25% diplomatic point cost of starting sieges against democracies
¶ Republic
In a Republic, the leader/mayor is directly elected.
Nations that are republics receive the following effects:
- Collective Security II: -35% diplomatic point cost of alliances
- Inclusive Institutions II: +0.5% nation resource bonus per eligible voter
- Democratic Peace Theory II: +35% diplomatic point cost of starting sieges against democracies
Note: Only mayors can run in a Republic nation's elections, as the nation leader must be a mayor.
¶ Direct Democracy
In a Direct Democracy, the leader/mayor is directly elected like in a Republic. However, major decisions must also be approved by voters in referendums, including:
- kicking residents from the town/towns from the nation
- changing the allies and enemies of the nation
- appointing a resident as co-mayor/co-leader
Nations that are direct democracies receive the following effects:
- Collective Security III: -45% diplomatic point cost of alliances
- Inclusive Institutions III: +0.75% nation resource bonus per eligible voter
- Democratic Peace Theory III: +45% diplomatic point cost of starting sieges against democracies
Note: Only mayors can run in a Direct Democracy nation's elections, as the nation leader must be a mayor.
¶ Democratic Nation Bonuses
Nations that are republics and constitutional monarchies receive bonuses.
¶ Consent of the Governed
After an automatic election ends in a democracy, its towns receive the Consent of the Governed modifier for 3 days, which reduces their upkeep by 30%.
- Early elections (e.g. those triggered by a co-leader being fired in a Constitutional Monarchy) do not give this modifier.
¶ Guardian of Liberty
The democracy with the most eligible voters is designated the Guardian of Liberty, receiving the following effects:
- Democratic Crusaders: -50% diplomatic point cost of starting sieges against non-democracies
- Defend Democracy: -50% diplomatic point cost of alliances with other democracies
¶ Election Provisions
The Election Provisions of the Constitution determine how the automatic elections in democracies are conducted.
¶ Campaigning Period
Determines the length of each election's campaigning period, during which residents must register as candidates.
¶ Voting Period
Determines the length of each election's voting period, during which eligible voters can vote for their preferred candidate.
¶ Term Length
Determines the duration an elected resident serves in office before the next election occurs.
¶ Consecutive Term Limit
Specifies the maximum number of consecutive terms an elected resident can serve. After reaching this limit, the resident must sit out the following election but may run again in subsequent elections.
¶ Political Parties Required to Stand
Determines whether residents must be members of a political party to run in an election.
¶ Hold Runoff Elections
Determines whether a runoff election is held if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote in an election.
The runoff election pits the two candidates with the most votes against each other; all other candidates are eliminated. Voting in the runoff election begins immediately after the initial election ends - there is no campaigning period.
¶ Skip Campaigning for Referendums
Determines whether referendums skip the campaigning period and proceed directly to voting.
¶ Voting Provisions
The Voting Provisions of a nation's Constitution determine who is considered an eligible voter and how much their vote is worth.
¶ Loyalty Requirement
Determines the minimum amount of loyalty towards the nation that a resident requires in order to be considered an eligible voter.
¶ Loyalty-Weighted Votes
Determines whether eligible voters:
- receive one vote each
- or receive a number of votes equal to their loyalty towards the nation
- e.g. a voter with 8 nation loyalty will receive 8 votes
¶ Referendums
When the leaders of a democracy amend its Constitution, a Referendum is held. This is a special election that asks voters to approve or reject the constitutional amendments (/[t|n] election vote [approve|reject]). The Constitution will only be amended if there are more votes for ‘Approve’ than ‘Reject’.
Since changing the Government Type is a constitutional amendment, a Referendum is the only route through which democracy can be abolished in a town or nation.
Referendums are also held for:
- major decisions in direct democracies, such as kicking towns and forming alliances
- promoting and demoting co-leaders/co-mayors in oligarchies.