I played Democracy 3, but wasn't a fan. I found it to be more akin to Public Policy Simulator than Democracy 3, because with time, you could implement any policy you wanted. There was no negotiating with other parties, making compromises such as "we'll support your view on this policy, or provide pork to your constituency, if you support our priorities in this area." And there were only two political parties, and the opposite party supported the opposite of whatever you did. There wasn't much depth; even in two-party countries like the U.S. it would have been nice to have parties have consistent view instead of just the opposite of yours, and in multiparty systems it would have been much more fun - and democratic - to have several parties, each with their own views, coalition governments, and so forth.
I'd be curious if Democracy 4 has addressed any of these complaints. If it has, I might be interested and pick it up, but if it's essentially the same game with a few more policy options, I'll pass.
Haven't tried Realpolitiks, though I recall seeing one of them on Steam and it looked mildly interesting.
So far that game that has come closest to meeting what I'd like to see in this is Urban Empire. They describe it as a "city ruler" instead of a city builder, and it has multiple political parties that each have their own priorities, and you as governor (and later, elected mayor) have to convince the majority of the city council to vote yes on your proposals to change them, with various options ranging from polite conversation and persuasion, to trying to discredit a party so they have less influence after the next elections, blackmail. Eventually, you also have to win re-election. It isn't perfect, but it has more politics in it that Democracy 3.
There's also Tropico, which is not bad in this area with various ways to influence the happiness and membership levels of various ideologies, and it being very difficult to make all factions happy at all times. And it has plenty of ways to influence the vote - you could rig the vote, but you could also just happen to send tax refund checks a couple months before the election if your treasury is sufficiently flush with cash. Or you could simply cancel the elections, increase your soldiers' pay, and hope enough of them stay loyal if there's an insurrection.
I'd certainly be interested in more recommendations along this vein.
