The People's House (WIP) (UPDATED: 2/19/24) - Presidential Sim

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Absolutely.

Summary

  • The first thing I was a little confused on was the Treasury Secretary choice since all we know about the former Chairwoman is that she’s the former chairwoman. Based on only that I can infer that she at least has more experience than the business guy but not anything else to make me inclined to choose her.

  • For the Attorney General we get a good view of the candidate leanings but the Solicitor General option quotes that he has a strong record whereas the other choices don’t really go into their capabilities and makes him stand out a little from the rest.

  • On the Gender Equality order it says:

“As a nation, we can accept nothing less than the full participation of all women and girls in all aspects of our society and our economy. In establishing the White House Council on Gender Equality, we take the first step in achieving just that.”

I’m just a little confused as to what their goal is (Participation in what? Politics, the work field, education, all of the above?)

  • Is the Refugee order specific to refugees or is it also expanding the number of total immigrants accepted each year?

  • The Drug Crackdown Commission is very open to interpretation. Are we allowing them to create a bunch of hardline ‘War on Drugs’ policies or are they a think tank coming up with federally funded advertisements like the anti-vaping stuff?

  • The Economic Council says:

“…draft and support economic policies to benefit everyone.”

This might just be me personally but this sounds like it’s just politician speak, which technically means that you’re hitting the nail on the head lol. I’m just skeptical of a supposed catch all solution that makes everyone happy and I don’t really see what direction they’re going to take in order to achieve this.

All in all I think this is a very well written WIP but I just wanna make sure that people I’m putting in power aren’t going to surprise me with the policies they’re enacting.

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There’s another of the policies I’m a bit confused by: The agricultural support policy is under conservative policies. Does this mean that it’s the usual “Republicans pretend to support agricultural workers but actually just pour money into giant agricultural conglomerates that abuse immigrant workers,” or is it “actually supporting agricultural workers, which is absolutely not a conservative policy, but I (as a Democrat) can gain Republican support by supporting something they pretend to support”?

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Thanks for the feedback, this is really helpful going forward!

First, to address @Xoromin’s comments.

Essentially in selecting your Treasury Secretary, you’re selecting your economic policy. Going with the Chairwoman is the fairly moderate option, whereas the State Treasurer is more of a fiscal conservative (he’s also from a swing state, which is an asset for midterms and for a potential re-election campaign :wink:).

There isn’t too much differentiating the candidates for Attorney General in terms of experience, but who you pick will still be very important. Going with Robert Hirono, the former Solicitor General, is the safe choice. He does his job and that’s about it. Going with Kendra Jones, an attorney from the opposition party, is more of a risky pick. She’ll be substantially more likely to go after you for corruption, but if you keep a clean record it’ll boost your approval rating with the public and with both parties.

Going with Lynch, your personal attorney is almost like your get-out-of-jail-free card. It’ll hurt your approval rating now, both in general and with each party, but you won’t be dealing with a corruption investigation from him.

By participation I meant participation in the economy and in politics, but I’ll rewrite this bit of dialogue to make it more clear.

The Refugee EO is just specific to refugees, but doesn’t affect other types of immigration. I’ll also make this more clear in the re-write.

This policy is meant to be more along the lines of the ‘War on Drugs’ ideology. I’ll also make this more clear for the next update.

This part is, and is intentionally, entirely politician speak as you said haha. While there will be an economy (that you can mess up), creating an Economic Council really won’t directly impact it. All the Council will do (if you form it) is offer suggestions if you do end up in an economic crisis.

With picking Executive Orders, there isn’t too much you need to worry about. A lot of them are “politician speak,” commissions that won’t do much, and committees that will never come to an agreement. Some will eventually face legal troubles.

I can’t, however, say that there won’t be surprises from the people you put in power, but that’s politics!

Also, great points @geldar!

What this policy does, if you select it, is it creates a Task Force to address issues facing agricultural producers, rural communities, etc. Because it isn’t something that’s explicitly opposed by the Democratic Party at large, it’s the only conservative EO (I believe) that won’t hurt your reputation with the Democratic Party.

The reason I put this under conservative policies is for the primary reason that Republican voters tend to be in rural areas. The Task Force, if you create it, will also offer more traditionally conservative solutions such as lifting restrictions on agricultural corporations to stimulate job growth, among other suggestions.

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Ah, ok, so it just creates the Task Force and I can really sway the Force either way with the policies I enact for them.

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It’s basically a great game, but there are some suggestions.

First of all, I want the player to be able to choose several positions.
Specifically, they are the Secretary of Health, the Secretary of Energy, the Chief of Staff to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Presidential Security Affairs.

The Chief of Staff is the most influential person on the White House staff, so it makes sense for the players to pick him or her.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Security Affairs is the next most influential staff member after the Chief of Staff and should be added because of the expected interaction with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.
I think recent realpolitik has proven that the Secretary of Health is important in emergencies involving health crises, such as pandemics, and also in political issues such as abortion.
The Secretary of Energy is concerned with the old and new important issues of environmental issues and the use of nuclear energy for both military and civilian purposes.

I would also like to see a policy added regarding the draft and nuclear weapons. This is an issue that has divided opinion within the Republican and Democratic parties in terms of equality and national security.

Also, I am Japanese and Japan is a major ally of the United States, so I would like Japan to be added as a destination for overseas travel.

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I’m happy you’ve enjoyed the demo so far!

While I do agree these are all important positions, I’d need a unique reason for why they’d be selected. For the cabinet posts you do pick (State, Defense, Treasury, AG), there are unique differences that will happen based on who you select. For State, it determines how good of a diplomat you get and how much your party approves of you. For Treasury, it determines your fiscal policy (pro/anti-government spending) or allows you to boost your corruption score. AG allows you to decide whether or not it’s worth it to put in place a loyalist to try and protect yourself in the long run.

For your Chief of Staff, Secretary of Energy, etc. I’m not entirely sure what various differences there would be in each candidate. The Chief of Staff, in almost every Administration, is a close friend and advisor to the President, but I’m not sure what different qualities would differentiate candidates. Similar story with the Secretary of Health and Energy. While you certainly have a say over those policies if you choose to, I’m not sure what would differentiate one pick for Secretary of Energy over another.

As for the draft and nuclear weapons, this will definitely be coming up later in the story as you begin to work on foreign affairs.

I’ll be sure to add Japan to the list of countries that you can travel to. If you’d like, I’ll also let you pick out a fictional name for the Prime Minister of Japan!

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Could we choose the set amount of children and their gender. Even their names?

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One is more focused on using and finding new sources of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas: boosting popularity with conservatives while decreasing popularity with progressives; reducing approval if you have a climate change task force, but increasing approval if you have a rural development task force (mining/oil/NG tend to be rural interests). The other is more focused on increasing use of clean(er) energy such as solar and wind power (maaaaybe nuclear too because it’s much lower on emissions, but the waste is extremely nasty) and phasing out coal, oil, and natural gas use: increasing popularity with progressives while decreasing popularity with conservatives; increasing approval if you have a climate change task force (you are putting money where your mouth is), while decreasing approval if you have a rural development task force. Option 3 is a bribe money giver/corruption booster.

Also, I thought up some child events if PC has a child, based on the child’s age. Would you like to see them?

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What about the name Shinji Kishimoto if you are a conservative prime minister? This is a play on Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of the current ruling party and the Liberal Democratic Party, a conservative party, and Fumio Kishida, the current prime minister.

If you are a liberal prime minister, how about the name Tomiichi Murata? This is a play on Tomiichi Murayama, the prime minister from the Japan Socialist Party, a social democratic party that once existed in Japan and was the ruling party in the 1990s.

Also, I have one question. What are the details of the reform of the criminal justice system? For example, are there any reforms related to juries, the death penalty, or hate crimes? Also, are there any combinations of them? (For example, difficult problems such as applying the death penalty for hate crimes)

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Nuclear is one of those interesting ones that’s popular with conservatives and somewhat popular with progressives but there’s a large faction of progressives who vocally oppose it so the political optics of that could be messy

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These are good options but I feel like this could be decided later on since it isn’t too central in the beginning. I also didn’t want to bog the player down with too many Cabinet choices right at the beginning so they wouldn’t all just be cosmetic. A lot of policy will be decided based on what laws you sign and veto rather than what Cabinet Secretaries you pick (as ultimately your Secretaries just do what you tell them to). I might run a poll in the future to see how people feel, though.

This would be very helpful, I’d appreciate it!

Prime Minister Shinji Kishimoto of Japan it is!

For all legislation (the one focus you set before signing any Executive Orders) you’ll have a good amount of say on what exactly the legislation contains. Because there are, I believe, 12 different bills you can write, this will take me forever to write, but I think it’ll be worth it. You’ll be able to make it more moderate, progressive, conservative, etc. So yes, you will be able to adjust prisons, the death penalty, and the police for that specific bill.

To get back to your comment, @Sakura_Higanbana28, I’ll quote a portion of my response to a similar question asked a bit earlier today.

I’m working out some suggestions with @Snowflower, but if you have any additional suggestions I’d also be happy to take them.

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Aside from the Secretary of Health and the Secretary of Energy, I think the Chief of Staff and the National Security Adviser are worth adding.

Because these two most important White House staff positions are responsible for traffic control of information from other staff and secretaries. It is regarded as an important position because of that, and it is a position where a powerful politician is often assigned.

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Child Events Suggestions (this may be edited over time):
All ages represent the child aging over Term 1.

Kindergarten-Elementary School (Age 6-10)
  • Inauguration Ball–kid fakes being sick to get time with you. Similar to the Will event currently present in the demo.
  • First Family Outing–the PC and their family are out in public (with the Secret Service agents in the background), trying to be a normal family. Depending on family relationship, this goes very well or very poorly.
  • The Best Parents Are…-- the mass and social media criticizes your parenting skills, no matter how good a parent you actually are.
  • I thought up a hypothetical kidnapping situation, but decided it was not a good idea.
High School (Age 14-18)
  • Inauguration Ball–this is your child’s first time that they are at a formal event and treated like an adult (for the most part, they still get grape juice instead of champagne) instead of a child, and they feel like an awkward farm animal and feel all the eyes in the room on them. They seek you out for comfort.
  • Social Media Blues–Your child is one of the most high-profile teenagers in the Western hemisphere, if not the world. However, puberty has not been kind, and neither is the media, both mass and social.
  • First First Date–Your child has their first date!
  • All Grown Up/Un-President-ed Behavior–This one depends on your relationship with your family. Your child either leverages their media presence to raise awareness around a particular issue of importance to them (not necessarily the ones important to you in your term, different text if they are/are not), or decides to cause all the scandals they can with the eyes of the world upon them.
College Student/Adult (Age 22-26)
  • Inauguration Ball–your child wonders what the future will bring for them as the President’s adult child. You can encourage them to forge their own path as they have been doing (either gently encourage or strongly order, really…), or pull some strings…
  • It Runs in the Family–your child uses their presence to form a task force on an issue they strongly believe in (how nicely this dovetails with your plans depends on your family relationship and whether you pulled some strings). They wonder if they should go out for politics after you are done serving as president (random chance if they do or not).
  • Cabinet Repairs–you choose to place your child in your cabinet, in your second term, regardless of whether you pulled some strings or bade them to forge their own path. This is a great plan without any possibility of backfiring!
  • First Wedding–your child has found someone during your second term and they are going to get married, and you decide that the White House is a great wedding venue. Fortunately, it has been used as such eighteen times.
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And don’t forget their scandals

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This also made me think about the issue of relations between the United States and its backyard (Latin America), having dialogues with important partners such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. Will we remain a Monroe Doctrine interventionist nation or will we see them as equals in relationships? Because if any of them are not happy with us they can side with our enemies. The worst case would be Mexico because the United States can hardly be invaded by sea but if it does it by land it would be another very terrible story :pensive: (and I’m Mexican :sweat_smile:)

Mexico would also be a diplomatic destination in relation to the drug issue in the United States mentioned above by another user of this thread. :smiley: They already know how to imply a position where Mexico contributes to the Fight but does not get the impression that the United States meddles a lot in its internal affairs.

I say this because lately the Latin American political left is more popular and unlike the American and European left, the left in Latin America is nationalist and recently there were claims or suggestions to replace the OECD with a new organization managed by Latin American nations without US interference. Or refusal to get involved in the diplomatic discussions of the OECD if nations that were openly dissatisfied with the United States such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua were not included.

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First thing i would like to say is that i absolutely loved the demo. I just played it 6 times in last hour trying different tactics.
Here is some general feedback more to come.

Maybe we could be allowed to choose our own age with effects on charisma and contacts as we grow older.

This is not a feedback but something i wanted to know. How is the media darling stat different from loved by commons stat. Wouldn’t a good relationship with media essentially translate to a good coverage about you and public loving you as a result

I understand the game is only just at inception stage but can at the end we have a effect on America (or world) page where how our might have changed the world for better (or worse). Maybe there could be a stat for that also

Can we be allowed to not marry at all. I understand that there is a family stat and wife is probably going to play a major role but if something can be done to mitigate that. (Probably you have to look after your younger siblings)

If it’s not too much trouble can u probably take the countries in a more balanced manner, probably one from each continent for eg- i would love to see some asian ally of U.S like South korea or Japan or India probably. (Russia and china are obviously going to play major role as they are too involved in world politics).

Once again i wanted to say i loved the wip and i have high expectations from this game. Would love to purchase when it releases.
Thank you

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YES!!! Finally another political-fiction story…I loved it but just a suggestion when you win the house elections for the first time I don’t think it needs to be "close results " if you’re for example a Democrats In a heavily democratic stronghold, irl that’s what happens I mean when you’re a first timer politicians that runs in San Francisco and you’re a Democrats all you need to worry is winning the primary and after that rest assured you’ll win the GE and also I found a typo “I’ll be blunt, our Healthcare System is broken. Tens of thousands of Americans dide each year due to the lack of quality, affordable healthcare in this country” but overall I really really like this…I hope to see more

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Another suggestion add a Southeast Asia nation whether it’s the Philippines who the us already has a close relationship… Indonesia the neutral but has a warm relationship with the west or Vietnam the obvious reasons I pick this region is the geopolitical situation in South China Sea and the president has to convince this nation to work with the us to counteract China influence in the region

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Is there any planned support for running as an independent or third party? Because to be perfectly frank, trying not to get too political here, I’m too left wing for the Republicans but don’t find the Democrats and their relatively lukewarm policies attractive either.

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Ooh, Maybe one of the events could be the white house correspondents dinner? It’s basically a roast of the president.

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