Government

Topic

Government

Government

Monarchy

Republic

Theocracy

Tribal

Native Tribe

Government interface

Each country is ruled by a government of a specific type providing benefits and sometimes penalties. The different kinds of government forms ranges from constitutional republics, where the state is governed by elected officials, to despotic monarchies, where the monarch exercises undefined and often unrestricted power over its government.

The interface by itself displays many types of information, for instance: the current ruler and heir, the type of advisors a player has, the country's main and accepted cultures and the monthly production of monarch power. Some government also have access to unique mechanics and abilities.

Government types

Government types are organized into five major groups. Each type uses a different stat to track the loyalty of the nation to the ruler.

Monarchy

Main article: Monarchy

Monarchy is a form of government where power is held by a single individual, i.e. the monarch. The ruler reigns until death. Several mechanics, such as royal marriages and personal unions, are mostly limited to monarchical forms of governments. Monarchies use legitimacy.

Republic

Main article: Republic

Republic is a form of government where power is, in contrast to a monarchy, held by a group of people. Republics have republican tradition instead of legitimacy. In some republics the ruler rules for life, but in others there is an election cycle.

Theocracy

Main article: Theocracy

Theocracy is a form of government where power is held by the religious elite. Theocracies get to designate an heir from a list of candidates. Although the choice does not affect the future heir's monarch skills (set at random), they give the player different effects and events once the heir comes into power. Theocracies use devotion with the Common Sense DLC.

Tribal government

Main article: Tribal government

A tribe is regarded as a society that hasn't developed a concrete definition of what a Westphalian nation-state is. Nomadic by nature, the power is held by either a chief or by a group of fellow tribesmen. As monarchies, tribal governments use legitimacy, royal marriages, etc. Steppe hordes will use horde unity instead of legitimacy if The Cossacks is enabled.

Native Tribe

Main article: Native Tribe

A native tribe is the government form of all native tribes in North and South America that are not Nahuatl, Mayan or Inti faith, and all Aboriginal tribes in Australia.

These governments don't use legitimacy, republican tradition or any other type of government strength value. There is no heir system: at ruler's death, a new one is generated with random stats.

Switching government type

To switch the government type the country has to enact a special government reform of the highest tier. However, this is prohibited for some forms of government.

Government rank

Without Common Sense a nation becomes a cultural union automatically by reaching 1000 development and may not change its rank through the government interface, only through country formations, decisions, etc.

The government rank system divides countries one of three ranks: Duchy, Kingdom, or Empire. A country's starting rank is based on historical considerations, though players can improve their rank by reaching certain total development values or via decisions. Ming, Byzantium, Ethiopia, and the Timurids are the only empire-rank nations in 1444, while there are many kingdoms and duchies. Austria also starts with the rank of empire at the start date due to its status as Holy Roman Emperor, as any nation with the title automatically gains the rank. Once the required development (and prestige), as listed in the table below, is reached, it is possible to upgrade the government rank in the government tab. The rank cannot be downgraded, even if one's development shrinks later in the game. However:

• Certain government types have fixed government ranks and cannot change it manually or otherwise.
• Holy Roman Empire princes cannot rise above duchy rank unless they are electors, the emperor or have a reform with a fixed rank. The emperor is always Empire-tier. Princes which have a fixed rank always keep the rank unless they are emperor. Electors may become kingdoms but not empires. The HRE electors Bohemia, Trier, Cologne and Mainz are the only kingdoms in the HRE in 1444.
• Vassals, Daimyo subjects, colonial nations and marches are always duchies; a country loses any higher rank upon being vassalized (unless the rank is locked by its government type) and won't be able to change its rank while subjected. Junior partners in a personal union and tributary states can change rank freely.

Note: Rank bonuses (as listed in the table) replace each other; so the net bonus of going from duchy to empire is +1 diplomat, not +2.

Rank	Name	Required development	Required prestige	National Focus cooldown	Diplomats	Leaders without upkeep	Governing capacity	Maximum absolutism	Monthly autonomy reduction
1	Duchy	Base	Base	25 years	+0	+0	+0	+0	-0
2	Kingdom	300	50	20 years	+1	+0	+200	+0	−0.025
3	Empire	1000	75	15 years	+1	+1	+400	+5	−0.05

Additional benefits and mechanics

• Higher-tier countries get a −10 penalty per tier towards accepting diplomatic vassalization, increasing to −30 if the requesting country is of lower tier. Conversely, a country that is of lower rank than the proposer gets a bonus: a duchy towards a kingdom gets +10.
• The government name displayed in game will vary depending on the rank. For example, the ranks for most republics will be displayed as Republic, Grand Republic, and Great Republic, while for steppe nomads it will be Horde, Khanate, and Khaganate.
• If the player has enabled the Common Sense expansion, then the player becomes a Cultural union for their culture group at empire tier.
• Obtaining Empire-tier is an Age Objective in the Age of Revolutions for those owning the Mandate of Heaven DLC.

Fixed government rank

Some special tier 1 government reforms have fixed government rank, regardless of prestige or development, and cannot change it manually or otherwise, exept for monastic orders, which can change government type if they have the government reform which enables it.

Fixed rank	Governments
Empire	Celestial Empire, Tsardom, Revolutionary Empire, Solomonic Empire Revolutionary Republic Kingdom of God Great Mongol State
Kingdom	Shogunate Revolutionary State Papacy
Duchy	Grand Duchy, Russian Principality, Daimyo Free City, Veche Republic, Colonial Government, Crown Colony, Private Enterprise Colony, Self-Governing Colony Monastic Order Siberian Native Council, Polynesian Tribe Native Tribe

Decisions and events changing government rank

Most country formation decisions will raise the government to empire or kingdom tier (if not already of a higher tier) without the need to reach the usual development thresholds. However:

• Nearly all country formation decisions that change government rank to kingdom or empire tier will cause the country and all of its provinces to leave the HRE unless it is an Elector or the current Emperor. Note that these decisions don't increase the government rank above kingdom for electors nor do they increase the rank above duchy for non-electors.
• Forming the Roman Empire or Germany will always remove both the country and all its provinces from the HRE.

Rank acquired	Country formation/reformation decisions
Empire	Byzantium, Persia, the Timurids, Arabia, Germany, Japan, Bharat, Hindustan, Rajputana, Deccan, the Marathas, the Mughals, Inca, Maya, Qing, Russia, Ruthenia, the Roman Empire, the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate, the Mongol Empire, and the united Holy Roman Empire
Kingdom	All other formables except Iceland, Tuscany, the Mamluks, Austria, Kurland, Punjab, Orissa, Nagpur, and Prussia (only when formed with the Teutonic Order)

In addition, the Ottomans and Rûm can become empires through the decision to make Constantinople their capital, while Persia has an event raising it to empire status if it is Shia, has at least 70% religious unity and controls the Persian heartland. Vijayanagar can become an empire by completing its "City of Victory" mission. Elector theocracies of the HRE may become kingdom-tier with the "Elevate Bishopric to an Archbishopric" decision if they are no longer Catholic or by spending 25 papal influence. However, Christian theocracies secularizing into monarchies by decision will be downgraded to duchies if they don't meet the usual 300 development threshold. The Papal State can also upgrade to Empire rank by taking the Kingdom of God decision.

Government reforms

Government reforms allow the player to custom-tailor the nation's government to their needs by picking the desired reforms at the different tiers using Government reform progress points.

There are various reforms available to each of the government types with each tier having (usually) 2-3 reforms. The first tier usually determines the chosen power structure of the nation and consequently defines what abilities/mechanics are enabled to that nation. The last tier usually allows changing to a different government type though it comes at the cost of losing several reform tiers. Lists of all reforms can be found on the pages for the government types.

The game starts with first step already passed. The second tier costs 100 reform progress points and each following step has its cost increased by an additional 40 reform progress points. It is possible to change picked reforms by spending 50 reform progress points.

Reform progress points have a base accumulation of +10 points per year, further multiplied by a variable related to the level of autonomy of the nation' provinces.

${\text{Yearly reform progress}}={\frac {\text{Base reform progress}}{100\%\,+\,{\text{average autonomy level}}}}\cdot \,(100\%\,+\,{\text{reform progress growth modifiers}})$

Many events and some missions give a one-time increase in reform progress. Native Councils in the Americas and Australia gain monthly reform progress instead of yearly reform progress see Native council - Reforming the government for more details. Reform Progress growth Modifiers:

	Conditions
+100%	at 100 Republican tradition, scaling linearly from 0 at 0 Republican Tradition
+100%	at 100%Crownland (starting from +20% at 50% Crownland)
+25%	at 100 Devotion, scaling linearly from -25% at 0 Devotion
+20%	Tier 3 Monarchy Government Reform: Expanded Royal Court
+10%	for completing the Franconian mission Grandeur Sans Pareil
-100%	Being a Native Tribe

From Great Projects: (only with )

• holding Venezia (112) with the great project Doge's Palace +10%; +20%; +30%.
• holding Napoli (121) with the great project Royal Palace of Caserta +5%; +10%; +15%.
• holding Piscataway (953) As former Colonial Nation or United States with the great project The White House +5%; +10%; +20%.
• holding Abancay (807) while Culture is in Andean group and has the primary or an accepted culture of its owner with the great project Machu Picchu & +10%.

From Ideas:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+25%	—	—	—	Court-Plutocratic: Plutocratic Ethos
+20%	—	Court idea 4: Tranquil Coordination	—	Administrative-Aristocratic: The Licensing of the Press Act
+15%	—	Dalmatian idea 1: Kingdom of Dalmatia Dortmund idea 2: Meeting Place of Bishops and Emperors Goslar idea 4: Capitalizing on the Hanseatic League Icelandic idea 1: The Althingi Kaurna idea 6: Old Tjilbruke Maratha idea 5: Strengthen ties with Brahmin Financial Families	—	—
+10%	—	Castilian idea 6: School of Salamanca French idea 3: Estates General Ottoman idea 4: The Law code of Suleiman Spanish idea 3: School of Salamanca Trent idea 1: Prince-Bishop Zulu idea 6: Shaka's Reforms	—	—

Expand Administration

Reform Progress may also be spent to expand administration from the Government Reforms screen. Expanding administration has a base cost of 20 Reform Progress increasing by 20% (+4) per level already unlocked. Lanfang idea 7: Expansion of the State reduces this cost by -30%. Each level of Expanded Administration increases Governing Capacity by +20.

Government interactions and mechanics

The Government interactions window.

Many government grant access to Government interactions. Usually these are unlocked by the T1 reform of the nation, but in some cases even later reforms can enable additional interactions.
Government interactions are found in the Government tab of the nation. Should a nation have acess to more than one interaction there will be a scrollbar on the side to scroll down to the other interactions.
Government interactions are usually three buttons which can be clicked to gain some bonus.

The following is a list of all available Government interactions and mechanics :

Interaction / Mechanic	Reform	Type	Required DLC
Taxation Policies	T1 : Iqta, Barbary Iqta, Indian Sultanate, Sharifate T1 : Somalian Theocracy	Buttons
Shogunate abilities	T1 :Shogunate	Buttons
Land of the Christian Sun abilities	T1 :Land of the Christian Sun	Buttons
National focus	T1 : Hermit Kingdom	Buttons
Theocrats vs. Monarchist	/ T1 : Ganden Phodrang	Scales
weakened Russian government abilities	T1 : Russian Principality T1 : Veche Republic	Buttons	/
Russian government abilities	T1 : Tsardom, Ruthenian Tsardom T1 : Great Veche Republic	Buttons	/
Modernization	T1 : Tsardom T1 : Great Veche Republic	Bar
Russian Rule abilities	T1 : Russian Empire T1 : Great Russian Federation	Buttons + Bars
Prussian Militarization	T1 : Prussian Monarchy	Bar + Buttons
Militarization	T1 : Livonian Militarist Monarchy T1 : Stratocratic Administration T1 : Militaristic Divine State, Crusading Empire T1 : Zulu Tribe	Bar
Statists vs. Monarchists (Dutch)	T1 : Stadhouder Monarchy T1 : Dutch Republic T1 : Dutch Archbishopric	Scales
Statists vs. Monarchists (Livonian)	T1 : Livonian States General	Scales
System of Councils interactions	T1 : System of Councils	Bar + Buttons
Mamlukian culture abilities	T1 : Mamluk government	Buttons
Feudal Theocracy abilities	T1 : Feudal Theocracy, Persian Government, Caliphate T1 : Caliphate	Buttons
Decadence	T1 : Ottoman government	Bar
Tribal Allegiance	T1 : Mossi Confederal Kingdom T1 : Tribal Federation	Bar + Buttons
Cossacks interactions	T1 : Sich Rada	Buttons
End Times	T1 : Fifth Monarchists Regime	Bar
Devshirme System interactions	T2 : Devshirme System	Buttons
Mercenary Militarization	/ / / T5 : Elite Mercenaries, Swiss Mercenaries	Bar
Statists vs. Monarchists (Generic)	T6 : States General	Scales
Absolute Power	T6 : Parliamentary-Monarchy Struggle	Scaled Scale
Revolutionaries vs. Monarchists	/ T6 : The Feuillant System	Scales
Militarists vs. Theocrats	T10 : Open Public Elections	Scales
Table of Ranks interactions	T11 : Table of Ranks / T13 : Table of Ranks	Buttons

Types of government interactions

Broadly speaking there are three types of government interaction- Buttons, Bars and Scales. It should however be noted that these categories are in no way clearly defined, they were made up for the sake of explaination and some interactions cannot be clearly put into either category.

Buttons

The most common interaction type, Buttons are represented by three big buttons in the government tab. The picuture at the top shows an example of this. Buttons usually have certain conditions to press them and will give some kind of bonus to the nation.

Cooldown buttons
Most Buttons have Cooldowns after pressing them. Usually these are per Button, but Interactions that have no other costs only let you press one of their buttons. The "Taxation Policy" and "National Focus" interactions both have a Cooldown of 20 years for all buttons after pressing any of their buttons.

Buttons with Cost
Some Buttons have some kind of cost associated with pressing them, additionally to their Cooldowns.
The "Feudal Theocracy" and "Devshirmy System" interactions both have a cost of 50 of the buttons respective mana.
The "Shogunate" interactions buttons each cost 20 Legitimacy to press.
The "Table of Ranks" interactions buttons cost : 45 adm, 10 Army Tradition or 10 Navy Tradition.
The "System of Councils", "Prussian Militarization" and "Tribal allegiance" interactions buttons can only be pressed by spending some of the mechanics unique currency. The costs are : 50 for the system of councils, 20 for prussian militarization and 30 for Tribal allegiance. These Mechanics also grant scaling modifiers, if their unique resource isnt spent. See the Bars section for how these currencies are accumilated.

"Power" Buttons
Many buttons have cooldown that scale with the current rulers skills.
The most common kind of scaling is : 3 + ruler skill power in each monarch power categories (//) per year.
Once 100 power in a category is reached, the related button can be pressed. The interactions : "Land of the Christian Sun", "Mamlukian Culture", "weakened Russian Government", "Russian Government" and "Cossacks", use this system.
The "Russian Rule" interaction gathers power in the same way. However, each of their buttons grants a modifier, scaling with the current amount of power that button has. Pressing any of their buttons costs 50 power.

Bar

Some governments gain modifiers which are tied to a bar. The strength of these modifiers scales up linearly while the bar fills up. Most of these Bars grant positive modifiers, while others grant negative ones or even both.

The factors that In- or Decrease a governments Bar vary wildly. The same is true for their modifiers. For details see their respective pages.

"Bar"- type Mechanics are :

• Modernization
• Russian Rule
• Prussian Militarization
• Militarization
• Mercenary Militarization
• System of Councils
• Decadence
• Tribal Allegiance
• End Times

Scales

"Scales" type mechanics are represented by two sets of modifiers, out of which only one will be active at any time. Which one is active, depends on the side that the scale is currently on (below or above 0).
The scales are moved whenever a new Ruler is elected. Government with "Scale"- type mechanics can choose their Rulers out of a pool of Candidates which will each belong to either Faction of the Scale.
Electing a Candidate will move the scale towards their faction by a fixed amount. As long as one faction has the Scale on their side, their set of modifiers will be active.
While the Scale is at exactly 0, the modifiers of the "negative- values" side will be active.

There is one "Scale"- type government that works slightly different. This is the "Absolute power" mechanic. While it also uses a scale that can go from -100 to 100, the two sets of modifiers it offers, also scale with how far the Scales are towards either side. Furthermore, its not elections that influence the scale, but actions related to the Parliament.

Strengthen government

On the government tab is a button to "Strengthen Government" by spending 100 military power. By doing this, the country gets one of the following, as appropriate for the government type and active expansions:

• +10 Legitimacy
• +10 Devotion
• +10 Horde unity
• +10 Meritocracy
• +3 Republican tradition
• +5 Revolutionary zeal

Additionally, from the Age of Absolutism onwards, it gets:

• +2 Absolutism

The button is only available if the appropriate government value is not already at maximum; it cannot be used solely to boost absolutism. It is also disabled if a republic turns into a dictatorship to prevent a reliably easy restoration of republican government.

Court

Rulers

Main article: Ruler

The ruler is the head of a country. As the representative of a nation, there are several ways a ruler can influence the progress and development of a state, one of them being the fact that monarch points come primarily from the ruler.

The heir is, for monarchies and similar government types, the successor of the ruler. The heir is vested with the future sovereignty of the state, and they are crucial in determining the future legitimacy of the monarchy. An heir can have either a strong, medium, or weak claim on the throne. When the heir takes the throne, the country's legitimacy will reset to either 80 (strong), 50 (medium), or 30 (weak).

The consort is, for monarchies and similar government types the spouse of the current reigning ruler. The consort is tasked with the opportunity to take the place of the throne if the ruler dies and the current heir is not of age.

Advisors

Main article: Advisors

An advisor is a knowledgeable person who is responsible for aiding and advising the leader of a nation.

There are three types of advisors, which align with the monarch's powers: administrative, diplomatic, and military.

Monarch power

Main article: Monarch power

Monarch power is one of the most important mechanics in EU4. In a way, monarchical power represents the ability of a ruler in governing a country and influences the rate at which technological innovation and infrastructural investment takes place. Despite its name, republics and other similar government types also use this mechanic.

There are three types of monarch power: administrative, diplomatic, and military.

References

Mechanics

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology

Defense

Fort • Zone of control