Republic vs. Democracy

[Jokeslayer]

Under what circumstances would you stick with republic and not switch to democracy?

As far as I can see, rep. is more useful if you have a large army and plan on warring a lot as it has some unit support and less WW (although if you have more than twice as many units as your support limit, you might be better off in demo. as it costs less per surplus unit) Demo has less waste and corruption, although I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes. Propaganda immunity is useful too, although I'm not sure the AI has ever attempted to flip a city. Democratic workers work faster too.

Does demo. get the trade bonus that rep. gets? I think it does, but it would be nice if someone could confirm.

I guess that the only other major factor is the second switch generating additional anarchy, unless I'm missing something

 

[Sensei 35]

No question Republic, Democ. are just some war sniveling whiners. ps srry i kinda stole your idea for my Commy v. Facist thread.

 

[MAS]

You may be better of asking under what circumstances I'd consider switching away from republic!

Someone nicked it "democrazy" for a reason!

Switching means extra turns in anarchy!
Image all that gold and production you lose during this long anarchy, and compare it to what you gain from a litle bit less corruption in democrazy compared to republic!
You never know when an other civ decide to go to war with you. A republic can take it, but a democrazy will pummel into anarchy again at WarWeariness level 3.
At level 2 it is 100% WW, while in republic you only get 100% WW at level 6.
In republic you can potentially have no unit support cost.
Democrazy lowers the corruption a bit, but this is lost to unit upkeep for a large part.
Democrazy is an optional tech!
Democrazy is behind 2 other tech that are also optional!

Just like communism, to make optimal use of the lowered corruption, you'd have to keep into account the size of your semi-core when planning your city-layout. This means a uselessly wide city placement at the early turns. Or it means re-arranging your city placement at later turns, then getting courthouses/markets/libraries in the now less corrupt cities before they start to become useful.

 

[lucashp]

I Use republic at first, Wage some wars, Kick some

But I never truly win by conquest, I switch to democrazy, Aiming for domination/diplomatic or just plain scoring.

 

[Kool Keith]

I would strongly advise against switching to Democracy. The difference in corruption is not enough to make a lasting difference on your treasury, and the war weariness can be a real pain. It is simply not worth the anarchy turns, or the research to learn Democracy in the first place.

 

[Ansar]

Well, if I'm a religious civ, I will switch to Democracy. If I'm not a religious civ, I will stay in Republic.

I don't really wage war, so Democracy is something I would consider.

 

[Aramazd]

Democracy is only useful if you are religious, otherwise the extra anarchy isn't worth it.

 

[iambenben]

i always go from democracy to republic, i make more money that way

 

[AquaBlue]

i always go from democracy to republic, i make more money that way

You mean the other way around? Because that counts for me. I usually do switch, because in my games it usually has a positive effect on my treasury. Furthermore I can build wonders faster. During the anarchy time I usually don't have any wonders to build (discovering Navigation, Theory, Economics later on).

Things people have said about lost production and commerce are true as well and therefore I question whether it depends on your level to gain or lose with the switch. Maybe the Anarchy period is to devastating on Emperor/Deity, but AFAIK you gain on Regent and lower (my levels ).

 

[TheOverseer714]

My best score in a GOTM was going Democracy after clearing my continent of opponents as a Republic, then using the big bucks to hurry cultural stuff. I should have had a 100k victory, but some glitch forced me to launch a spaceship years later. I would only go Democracy as a religious civ.

 

[civverguy]

Use democracy if you're going for a peaceful victory condition e.g. 20k or diplomatic.

 

[Empiremaker]

The point of Democracy is...? Benefits: Slightly reduced corruption, immunity to Propaganda, faster workers.
disadvantages: 2 optional techs, more WW, anarchy, generally more unit support. Republic is almost always better.

 

[cometflash]

I think I only switch to Democracy once, and I didn't see much advantage in it. If I change Government later on the game, is always Communism, and that is only if I have to much corruption everywhere, and lots of cities.

 

[Pyrrhos]

Railroading rep - 6/12/18 worker turns (w RepParts 3/6/9)

Railroading demo - 4/8/12 worker turns (w RepParts 2/4/6)

The much faster time under demo => higher productivity => more fpt, gpt, spt, bpt AND more people => even more fpt/gpt/spt/bpt more than pays for the extra turns of research and anarchy. Throw in pollution clear-up every other turn as well (rep 8/16/24, demo 6/12/18) and it's easy to see how much more efficient demo is at this stage of the game.

It's not uncommon that under rep researching a new tech in the IA takes 6 or more turns whereas demo goes down to 4-5 turns. Also, less corruption + more cash to rush improvements = even "rotten boroughs" make a credible contribution and are not just a liability.

Demo wins hands down every day UNLESS you play on small to normal maps where none of the above advantages with demo are significant enough so my answer to your question is that when and if I play games on small to normal maps, I would think twice about switching to demo.

 

[MAS]

@Pyrrhos
Except that I go straight to the industrial age, skipping the optional tech, (except cavalry) and then go for replaceable parts. Before I get Steam, I'll make sure I have plenty of workers in place, and by the time I'll ever get to democrazy, My empire is railed, borg style!

 

[Pyrrhos]

@ Mas

Recently, I've been trying out a variant in the MA --> Gunpowder, then --> Free Artistry in order to get a super-metro asap. (Works on Monarch-Emperor, but I doubt it'd work on higher levels). Doing that, I get demo as a by-product and it would be foolish not to avail myself of it, no? I usually play on huge, but I imagine that the super-metro ploy would be even more devastating on small to normal.

 

[Pyrrhos]

@ Mas

Recently, I've been trying out a variant in the MA --> Gunpowder, then --> Free Artistry in order to get a super-metro asap. (Works on Monarch-Emperor, but I doubt it'd work on higher levels). Doing that, I get demo as a by-product and it would be foolish not to avail myself of it, no? I usually play on huge, but I imagine that the super-metro ploy would have an even greater impact on small to normal maps.

 

[civverguy]

@ Mas

Recently, I've been trying out a variant in the MA --> Gunpowder, then --> Free Artistry in order to get a super-metro asap. (Works on Monarch-Emperor, but I doubt it'd work on higher levels). Doing that, I get demo as a by-product and it would be foolish not to avail myself of it, no? I usually play on huge, but I imagine that the super-metro ploy would be even more devastating on small to normal.

Are you going for a 20k victory?

 

[Pyrrhos]

No, conquest or spaceship are the only ones I've ticked. I like long games...

 

[DBear]

re OP: All of them. There is NO reason whatsoever to switch to Democracy. The slight revenue increase you'll get with lower corruption will be more than offset by having to pay for all your troops and greater WW.

You ARE playing C3C, right?