Capacity

Capacities, the game's "currencies" as shown on the top-left corner near the nation's flag.

Capacities are three of the four main "currencies" in the game (with money as the fourth). Each capacity represents one specific area of the nation's ability to govern and is used solely for matters relating to that area.

Generation and usage

Capacities are not pooled resources, instead having a constant generation and usage. The methods of generation and uses vary by capacity, as outlined in the following sections. Generally, certain society technologies provide percentage increases to capacities, as do certain happy interest groups, certain monuments and some event modifiers. All countries have a base of +100 of each capacity.

Beyond their direct uses, each capacity provides a benefit if generation exceeds usage (surplus) and a penalty if usage exceeds generation (deficit). The benefit of a surplus or penalty of a deficit is scaled by the relative size of the surplus or deficit compared to total generation of that capacity, with the maximum benefit when usage is half or less of generation, or maximum penalty when usage is twice or more of generation.

Most actions requiring a certain amount of a capacity cannot be taken unless that much is currently available; however most actions are not automatically cancelled by a deficit.

Capacity types

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy represents a nation's governing ability, including taxation, institutions, and trade. It is generated by the  Government Administration building.

Bureaucracy is used by incorporated states, with a small base amount and then scaled by population. It is also used for institutions, again scaled by the population of incorporated states. Finally, bureaucracy is used for trade routes (waived with a Trade Agreement) and retaining generals and admirals.

A bureaucracy deficit causes countrywide tax waste, up to 100% at full deficit; a bureaucracy surplus increases construction efficiency in all states, up to 10% at full surplus.

Authority

Authority represents the head of state's personal power and ability to enact change in the country through decree. It is generated by the country's laws – generally, the more repressive and authoritarian the country, the more authority it generates. The popularity of a country's ruler also generates authority – or reduces it if unpopular.

Laws affecting authority

Category	Law	Effect
Governance Principles	Monarchy	+200
	Presidential Republic	+100
	Parliamentary Republic	0
	Theocracy	+200
	Council Republic	0
	Chiefdom	+100
Distribution of Power	Autocracy	+200
	Oligarchy	+100
	Elder Council	+200
	Landed Voting	+100
	Wealth Voting	+100
	Census Suffrage	+50
	Universal Suffrage	0
	Anarchy	−50%
Church and State	State Religion	+200
	Freedom of Conscience	+100
	Total Separation	0
Citizenship	Ethnostate	+200
	National Supremacy	+200
	Racial Segregation	+100
	Cultural Exclusion	+50
	Multiculturalism	0
Economic System	Command Economy	+25%
	Other economy laws	—
Trade Policy	Isolationism	+50%
	Other trade laws	—
Free Speech	Outlawed Dissent	+200
	Censorship	+100
	Right of Assembly	+50
	Protected Speech	0

Authority is used for the following actions:

• Enacting decrees – base cost: 100 Authority per decree
• Bolstering or suppressing interest groups – base cost: 200 Authority per interest group
• Enacting consumption taxes – varies from 500 to 100 Authority depending on the good

An authority deficit reduces the approval of opposition interest groups, up to −10 at full deficit; an authority surplus reduces law enactment time, up to −25% at full surplus.

Influence

Influence represents a country's ability to conduct diplomacy. It is generated primarily from the country's rank (great powers have more base influence than major powers and so on). Rivalries and certain monuments also provide extra influence.

Each rank provides a certain amount of influence as well as affecting the base cost of diplomatic actions and pacts.

Rank		Influence	Diplomatic pact cost
	Great power	1000	+100%
	Major power	750	+50%
	Unrecognized major power	750
	Minor power	600
	Unrecognized regional power	600	−25%
	Insignificant power	500
	Unrecognized power	500	−50%

Diplomacy is used to support ongoing diplomatic actions and pacts, such as improving relations, alliances, trade deals, subjects, and so on. The cost of diplomatic actions and pacts are modified by the rank of the target country as in the table above.

An influence deficit reduces prestige, up to −50% at full deficit; an influence surplus increases infamy decay, up to 25% at full surplus.