CHAPTER EIGHT
POLITICS
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"Political power grows from the barrel of a gun."
Chairman Mao Zedong |
Economics, construction, tourismà all child's play compared to the slippery realm of politics. At the end of the day, what matters is staying power, and that depends solely on your ability to control the people. Love, fearà all that matters is the control. And to control all sides at once, you will have to keep up a very delicate juggling act.
As PresidentΘ, you will face the individual views of the people, the unified views of the factions, armed rebels hiding in the forests and the often-meddlesome pressures of foreign powers. In response, you can exert control over them through buildings and edicts. You will have to face elections. You will face violent takeovers. At best, you will have some people constantly upset with you. At worst, you will find yourself stripped of your title, your power, even your homeland.
The best manner of keeping things going smoothly is to keep your people happy. Failing that, avoid free elections (unhappy voters will vote against you), and avoid uprisings by keeping a strong military (and don't forget to keep the military happy).
A large part of a person's happiness is determined by their housing and job - but those elements are discussed elsewhere in this guidebook.
However, the peoples' respect for you is one of the most important components of happiness, and is almost entirely determined by politics - specifically, by the factions which people ally with, and your relations with those factions.
INTERNAL POLITICS (FACTIONS)
People associate with at least one faction on your island, and sometimes several. The factions are simply large blocs of people with common interests.
The Factions
Capitalists: Typically one of the smaller factions, capitalists are nonetheless quite important. Your relations with the U.S. are determined in large measure based on how your local capitalists view you. The capitalists look for wealth and prosperity, particularly for the favored elite. They have nothing against social programs for the poor, but frankly, they just don't care whether the poor are well treated or not. Make sure all your educated citizens have good housing and adequate entertainment. Pay your elite well, make sure the economy grows nicely, and also make sure your economy develops high profit sectors such as industry and tourism.
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TITLE: Emporer of Central Africa Republic REIGN: 1966-1979 RISE to POWER: Was appointed to head of armed forces by country's president David Dacko, his cousin. COUP D' ETAT: Used position as supreme military commander to overthrow Dacko and anoint himself president. ROYALTY: Named himself emporer, spending $20 million on a lavish crowning ceremony. CLAIM to FAME: Known for his autocratic and unpredictable policies, his short rule effectively bankrupted his impoverished country. HEINOUS CRIMES: Following charges that he personally participated in a massacre of 100 schoolchildren, French paratroops carried out a military coup that reestablished Dacko as president. Bokassa went into exile, and was sentenced in absentia to death. |
Communists: On a relatively underdeveloped island such as Tropico, with large numbers of uneducated peasants, the promise of communism has wide appeal. Look for the communists to be one of the largest factions. Your relationship with the communists also largely determines your relationship with Russia. The communists don't like income disparity - if you pay your elite much more than your common workers, they will be upset. They also dislike unemployment, and want to see all workers living in at least decent housing (i.e. anything but shacks).
Intellectuals: The intellectuals are typically a smaller faction, but if you upset them, you risk seeing some of your brightest, best-trained workers emigrate off of Tropico. Intellectuals want high liberty on your island - a free democracy and minimal military thuggery. They also want a high school and college as soon as the island is populated enough to support them, and they like to see a relatively high average education level for all citizens.
Religious: A large portion of your population holds deep religious beliefs. They want to see a church built quickly, and a cathedral reasonably soon. This faction keys on the average religion quality on the island. Many of the more morally ambiguous character traits and edicts displease this faction.
Militarists: The militarists are a mid-sized faction, but since these folks have most of the firepower on the island, heed them well. Pay your soldiers well, have an army that grows nicely along with the rest of your island. Add an armory and a general when feasible, and you will have a happy militarist faction.
Environmentalists: PresidentΘ, hard as it may be to believe, there are a few among your citizens who believe that your islands trees and jungles should stay intact, rather than being cut down and sold to lumber mills. Strangely, they also think the air looks and smells nicer when you don't have smokestacks belching pollution across your entire island. Keep your environment clean, and you will please this group.
Faction Leaders
Each faction has a designated leader (in the almanac, click on Politics - View Factions - Communists to see the local communist leader.) This leader's personal happiness has a significant impact on that faction's attitudes towards you. Late in your rule, when each of the 6 faction leaders may influence hundreds of supporters each, pay special care to these leaders - make sure they have good jobs and houses, bribe them if necessary, and generally make them as happy as possible.
Rebels
If your citizens become too upset, they have the option to join the rebellion. These traitors slink off to the woods, put on their camo pants and red berets, and disappear. After sneaking off, the rebels are invisible until they come close to a building or soldier. The other rebels will arm the new recruits with rifles.
As the rebels grow in strength, they will launch attacks on outlying structures on your island. As quickly as they have destroyed a building, they fade back into the woods.
But the real danger, My PresidentΘ, is if the rebels should become so strong that they can boldly march into town and attack your magnifico palace. If they should win such a battle, you will have to make a rapid exit from Tropico. To avoid such an unpleasant ending, keep your people happy and hold free elections, so that they feel no need to become rebels. If that fails, have plenty of soldiers to defend the island.
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TITLE: President of Nicaragua REIGN: 1990-1996 RISE to POWER: Married Pedro Chamorro, journalist and the editor of Nicaragua's only national newspaper, La Prensa. Pedro led unsuccessful insurrections, and spent years in exile and in prison, while Violetta raised their four children and helped her husband in many political activities. WIDOWED: In 1978, Pedro was assassinated, sparking a civil war. Violetta took over the management of La Prensa, and was influential in overthrowing the Somoza dictatorship. LA PRENSA: Violetta used the paper to speak out against the new government and its practices. For a decade she criticized the government for betraying democratic principles and ruining the economy through excessive military spending- causing inflation, unemployment and a large international debt. PRESIDENT ELECT: Handily won election in 1990, advocating a return to ownership of private property, a free market economy, no press censorship and a de-emphasis on the military. |
If your society can improve and meet the requests of the rebels, it is possible to convince the rebels to rejoin society. It won't be easy, but if your island's overall happiness has significantly improved, some rebels may lay down their arms, especially if you issue the Amnesty edict.
The courage of the rebels (and happiness of the soldiers) is to a large degree determined by the ratio of rebels to soldiers on your island.
ELECTIONS
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"The best argument against democracy is a five minute
talk with the average voter."
Winston Churchill |
My PresidentΘ, your populace will demand elections approximately every five to nine years. How strongly they demand the elections and how you handle them will be determined by their expectation of democracy. PresidentΘ, imagine the dismay in a country such as the United States, with a democratic tradition going back to the 18th century, if the president there canceled elections - there would be immediate riots. With less tradition of democracy here on Tropico, you have more flexibility - and the lower the expectations, the less the reaction will be if elections are canceled or perhaps, are less than fully honest.
When the time comes to hold an election, the people will let you know by way of an official letter, which you are expected to respond to with a refusal or acceptance of the proposed election. There is another option, though- if you feel the population is especially happy at a point in time, you can call a special election (via the 'Special Election' edict), which, if you win, will reset the clock, so that the people won't demand another election for many years. Either way, once the call is put out for an election, it follows the same pattern of operation.
Opposing Candidates
As soon as an election is ordered, you are informed of your opposing candidate. The candidate is one of your citizens, and will typically be a strong leader and one of the most ambitious of your detractors. As your population grows, the chance of having a particularly strong opponent increases. The main window automatically centers on and follows the opponent.
The Voters Decide
Voters make their own decision for or against you. If they are happy overall, they're more inclined to vote for you. If your opponent is a strong leader, or is of the same faction as the voter, they might lean towards your opponent. For the first decade or so of your regime, the voters are inclined to cut you extra slack, and will lean towards voting for you, even if they are not particularly happy.
Estimated Support Chart
Until the election takes place, the Circle Window will display a chart showing the estimated opinions of your people. The green side of the chart displays the number of people expected to vote for you, and the red side against you. Lines at the outer edges represent strong supporters or detractors, while the center of the graph shows people who only mildly support a candidate. The graph will change each month to reflect the current polls, and may at times change drastically. It is important to remember that this graph shows only the expected voter performance, and the final vote may be different.
Deadline
After you are notified of your running mate, you have one year in which to prepare for Election Day. You may carry on with what you were doing if you are sure of yourself. If not, you can try enacting new edicts, raising pay, making bribes or any other actions in the hopes of influencing the voters.
Fair or Foul
One month before the election, you have a choice to make. Your advisors will present you with a letter explaining the expected election results. They then ask whether you wish to have a fair election or a somewhat "biased" one. If you choose a fair election, voting day will carry on as usual and your future will be in the hands of the people. If you choose for the shadier route and rig the election, your chances of victory increase greatly (though even a rigged election may not be successful if there is massive resentment of you). Unfortunately, your people generally have some knowledge of an unfair election, and the more fraud that is necessary, the greater the scorn from the people, especially the intellectual faction.
And the Winner Is
One year after the election proclamation was issued, Election Day occurs. If you win (by fair means or not) you will be told so, and life will carry one. If you lose, you will find yourself on a lonely rowboat, with a view of the fading island in the background. You have lost your change at greatness.
FOREIGN POLITICS
While it would be nice to be the biggest bully in the playground and be able to say things like, "All your base are belong to us," you don't have that luxury. The U.S. and Russia will be looking over your shoulder, often giving support or opposition to your policies. Please them by winning the favor of the local capitalists or communists, respectively. The U.S. also likes to see free elections in Tropico - Russia is not so particular.
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TITLE: President of Romania REIGN: 1974-1989 RISE to POWER: Climbed through the ranks of the communist party, eventually being elected to newly created post of president. RIGID CONTROL: His secret police maintained rigid control over free speech and the media and tolerated no internal dissent or opposition. BUILDING ECONOMY: Ordered the export of much of the country's agricultural and industrial production, resulting in drastic shortages of food, fuel, energy, medicines and other basic necessities, and driving Romania into a state of near starvation. JUST DESSERTS: Convicted by a special military tribunal on charges of mass murder and other crimes, he and his wife were shot by a firing squad. |
Foreign Military Bases
If your relations with one of the major powers are especially good, you may form a military alliance with them (through the Alliance edict). That power will immediately construct a military base on your island (they do this on their own - you have no control over its location). In return for this, the power will pay you an annual rental fee, and the presence of its soldiers on your soil prevents the opposite power from invading (i.e. with a Russian military base, the U.S. will not invade). However, the power with the base on your island also seeks to protect its base, and is more inclined to invade if relations start to go sour.
Foreign Gunboat Presence
If the U.S. or Russia is disturbed enough by your government policies, they have the option to send gunboats to the waters off your shores (Russia will only do this if it already has a military base on Tropico). You will see the gunboats patrolling the area and will get a message alerting you to that foreign power's distress with your administration. If you fail to improve your policies and anger the world power enough, they will launch an attack on your shores. PresidentΘ, as mighty as you are, you simply cannot stand up to an invasion by the U.S. or Russia, and such an invasion will cause an immediate end to your regime and a hasty exile for you.
UPRISINGS, COUPS, AND REBELLIONS
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"You can make a throne of bayonets,
but you can't sit on it for long."
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Boris Yeltsin |
Have you been able to keep your people under control? If not, your rule will eventually come down to one result- violent opposition. You have to keep up with all sides, for this violence could come from the people, the military, or armed rebels.
Protest
The first sign of trouble from your citizenry is usually individual street protests. Particularly angry citizens will run around the streets, shaking their fists in anger, and trying to stir up a reaction from their fellow Tropicans. Be careful, the protest disease spreads quickly - protesters can cause nearby citizens who were only mildly upset to grow angry as well, and join in the protests. Sometimes, this can lead to a full-fledged uprising.
Uprisings
If enough people are angry, your people may stage a sudden uprising. This is resolved fairly quickly. All adults make up their minds to join the uprising, actively oppose it, or simply to run and hide until its over. Supporters will wave a flag over their heads to show their loyalty to the government, while opponents will have a burning flag overhead. Your supporters and opponents will converge on your palace. Typically they will initially fight each other, and if your opponents beat off most of your supporters, they will then attack the palace. If the palace can be sufficiently damaged, you will have no choice but to flee Tropico forever. The odds will be against the civilians, but enough of them just might be able to overtake your guards and destroy the palace. If not, you will still lose a large portion of your labor force - Uprisings are to be avoided if possible.
Coup d'Etat
Yes, your own military could turn on you. It's hard to protect yourself from your own military forces, so this is one consequence you want to avoid. You won't be left defenseless; in a coup, the military will split into two groups, those who support you and those who want you out of power. The two sides will fight, and you'll watch as the fate of your regime is decided.
Rebellion
If the rebels hiding in the forests become brave and numerous enough, they will come pouring out of the trees and run to the palace, shooting as they come. When they reach the palace, they will confront your own military. A full-scale battle will break out as the rebels in their red berets try to send you packing. Some of your less loyal soldiers may choose to run away. Cowards!!!
Prevention
PresidentΘ, please note that most of these citizen actions can be curtailed if you have a strong military that creates a strong sense of government control. Indeed, you can see the overall level of government control in the Info Mode, as one available overlay. Even an angry citizen is unlikely to act if there are armed government soldiers on every street corner. This will also dissuade citizens from becoming rebels, and will help fight off such rebels as already exist.
However, the one faction that still threatens a heavily defended PresidentΘ is the army itself. A coup d'etat remains a threat, indeed it may become a bigger threat. Make sure your soldiers are well paid and generally happy.