Government Category

Each nation has a government Category that is determined by their ranking on three axes: Personal Freedom, Economic Freedom, and Political Freedom. The rankings are determined by the government style and quiz answers when the nation is created. A nation may be ranked Authoritarian, Centrist, or Libertarian in each. With three ranks on three axes, there are 27 possible combinations, and each is given a title, called its Category. (These were formerly called "UN Categories," before the UN disbanded in April 2008.)

Note that the three axes are distinct from the three descriptors (Civil Rights, Economy, and Political Freedoms) that show on a nation's "Spotlight On" page. Due to the similarities in the names, there is much confusion on this. But since a nation can change Category without changing any of the three descriptors, it is clear these must be two separate systems. Also note that the descriptors have 15 levels each (though there are some who say there are only 14 levels of Civil Rights).

Categories February 2014

WA Category	No. of nations	% of Nations	Change since May 2011	% change since May 2011
Anarchy	3,553	3.03%	1,369	62.68%
Authoritarian Democracy	1,305	1.11%	462	54.80%
Benevolent Dictatorship	371	0.32%	3	0.82%
Capitalist Paradise	5,833	4.97%	962	19.75%
Capitalizt	1,283	1.09%	69	5.68%
Civil Rights Lovefest	3,853	3.28%	547	16.55%
Compulsory Consumerist State	4,554	3.88%	-94	-2.02%
Conservative Democracy	370	0.32%	81	28.03%
Corporate Bordello	2,308	1.97%	78	3.50%
Corporate Police State	4,199	3.58%	692	19.73%
Corrupt Dictatorship	4,970	4.23%	370	8.04%
Democratic Socialists	16,622	14.16%	5,594	50.73%
Father Knows Best State	10,674	9.09%	1,131	11.85%
Free Market Paradise	340	0.29%	128	60.38%
Inoffensive Centrist Democracy	21,794	18.57%	3,188	17.13%
Iron Fist Consumerists	6,976	5.94%	2,419	53.08%
Iron Fist Socialists	387	0.33%	-9	-2.27
Left-Leaning College State	2,627	2.24%	-548	-17.26%
Left-wing Utopia	2,798	2.38%	1,133	68.05%
Liberal Democratic Socialists	5,047	4.30%	1,779	54.44%
Libertarian Police State	468	0.40%	-84	-15.22%
Moralistic Democracy	1,991	1.70%	697	53.86%
Mother Knows Best State	401	0.34%	N/A	N/A
New York Times Democracy	6,677	5.69%	1,129	20.35%
Psychotic Dictatorship	4,036	3.44%	1,583	64.53%
Right-wing Utopia	1,194	1.02%	581	94.78%
Scandinavian Liberal Paradise	2,326	1.98%	-292	-11.15%
Tyranny by Majority	405	0.35%	210	107.69%
NationStates Total	117,362	100.0%	23,178	19.74%

Information compiled by

Jenlom

Categories May 2003

The following data are definitive and were taken directly from game code May 2003. As you might guess, some Categories are very rare.

Other Government Category Surveys

The following data represent an unofficial sample of 1486 nations (about 1.5% of all activated nations) taken on April 24, 2006. The nations resided in the regions of

the Pacific,

Gatesville,

Europe,

Texas,

Futaba Aoi,

Australia and

United States.

WA Category	%
Anarchy	2.6
Authoritarian Democracy	1.0
Benevolent Dictatorship	0.3
Capitalist Paradise	6.7
Capitalizt	1.8
Civil Rights Lovefest	2.6
Compulsory Consumerist State	7.1
Conservative Democracy	0.2
Corporate Bordello	1.5
Corporate Police State	4.6
Corrupt Dictatorship	3.6
Democratic Socialists	7.7
Father Knows Best State	9.8
Free Market Paradise	0.5
Inoffensive Centrist Democracy	24.6
Iron Fist Consumerists	5.6
Iron Fist Socialists	0.3
Left-Leaning College State	4.4
Left-wing Utopia	1.1
Liberal Democratic Socialists	1.7
Libertarian Police State	0.6
Moralistic Democracy	2.0
New York Times Democracy	4.4
Psychotic Dictatorship	2.5
Right-wing Utopia	1.0
Scandinavian Liberal Paradise	1.6
Tyranny by Majority	0.0^a

^a This represents no examples found in the sample, not an artifact of rounding.

The following data was an unofficial sample of 100 nations that were active on NationStates taken on April 15th, 2011 by

Syvorji.

WA Category	No.
Anarchy	11
Authoritarian Democracy	1
Benevolent Dictatorship	0^b
Capitalist Paradise	5
Capitalizt	2
Civil Rights Lovefest	5
Compulsory Consumerist State	1
Conservative Democracy	1
Corporate Bordello	0^b
Corporate Police State	1
Corrupt Dictatorship	1
Democratic Socialists	13
Father Knows Best State	9
Free Market Paradise	0^b
Inoffensive Centrist Democracy	24
Iron Fist Consumerists	2
Iron Fist Socialists	0^b
Left-Leaning College State	4
Left-wing Utopia	2
Liberal Democratic Socialists	7
Libertarian Police State	0^b
Moralistic Democracy	1
New York Times Democracy	5
Psychotic Dictatorship	2
Right-wing Utopia	1
Scandinavian Liberal Paradise	2
Tyranny by Majority	0^b

^b This represents no examples found in the sample.

The following data represents an unofficial sample of all nations taken on May 26th, 2011.

WA Category	No.	%
Anarchy	2,184	2.33
Authoritarian Democracy	843	0.90
Benevolent Dictatorship	368	0.39
Capitalist Paradise	4,871	5.19
Capitalizt	1,214	1.29
Civil Rights Lovefest	3,306	3.53
Compulsory Consumerist State	4,648	4.96
Conservative Democracy	289	0.31
Corporate Bordello	2,230	2.38
Corporate Police State	3,507	3.74
Corrupt Dictatorship	4,600	4.90
Democratic Socialists	11,028	11.75
Father Knows Best State	9,543	10.18
Free Market Paradise	212	0.23
Inoffensive Centrist Democracy	18,606	19.84
Iron Fist Consumerists	4,557	4.86
Iron Fist Socialists	396	0.42
Left-Leaning College State	3,175	3.39
Left-wing Utopia	1,665	1.77
Liberal Democratic Socialists	3,268	3.48
Libertarian Police State	552	0.59
Moralistic Democracy	1,294	1.38
New York Times Democracy	5,548	5.92
Psychotic Dictatorship	2,453	2.62
Right-wing Utopia	613	0.65
Scandinavian Liberal Paradise	2,618	2.79
Tyranny by Majority	195	0.21

The above survey was conducted by

Defero Populus.

Category Map

This shows the different Categories in relationship to each other and to their (otherwise behind-the-scenes) rankings in Personal Freedom, Economic Freedom, and Political Freedom.

Category Glossary

Category:	Overview:	NS nation page description:	RL equivalent
Anarchy	No state actually exists.	Citizens live in a state of perpetual fear, as a complete breakdown of social order has led to the rise of order through biker gangs.	Anarchism
Authoritarian Democracy	Citizens have little freedom except some say in the government.	Citizens are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.	Semi-Populism
Benevolent Dictatorship	A dictatorship ruled by someone who pays no attention to the people and allows them to do whatever they want, except challenge the government.	Citizens enjoy great individual freedoms in everything except elections, which, where they exist at all, are populist shams for a dictatorship government that has no intention of ever giving up power.	Feudalism
Capitalist Paradise	No restrictions whatsoever are placed on trade; civil rights and political rights are not repressed but take a back seat to the economy.	Citizens are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.	Capitalism
Capitalizt	It's all about business. Civil rights are generous.	Citizens enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.	Anarcho-capitalism
Civil Rights Lovefest	Libertarian rule, with less emphasis on the economy and more on civil and political rights.	Citizens hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.	Anarcho-socialism
Compulsory Consumerist State	Like Capitalist Paradise, except that the government does not allow dissent	Citizens are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.	Corporatism
Conservative Democracy	People are free to vote, and usually use it to outlaw civil rights.	Citizens are known throughout the region for their efficiency and work ethic, as well as their general suspicion of leisure.	Religious democracy
Corporate Bordello	Free market, free elections, not-so-free merchandise. Civil rights are moderate; political rights are generous.	Citizens are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.	Capitalist democracy
Corporate Police State	The government = big businesses. Individuals have few rights and have to buy from the top corporations.	Citizens are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.	Authoritarian corporatism
Corrupt Dictatorship	A state in which the government has lowered political and economic rights and adopted a moderate civil rights policy.	Citizens are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.	Authoritarian communism
Democratic Socialists	Political Freedoms in this state would be regarded as average, while the government is omnipresent and has much say in the economy, with citizens having few economic rights.	Citizens are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.	Socialism
Father/Mother Knows Best State	The government allows moderate freedoms, but has the final say (like a parent).	Citizens are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.	Monarchy
Free-Market Paradise	People are free to vote and make money but have few civil rights.	Citizens enjoy frequent elections, which are uniformly corrupted by big-spending corporations buying politicians who best suit their interests.	Right-wing democracy
Inoffensive Centrist Democracy	Where the people have a good mix of political and civil rights as well as security. Obviously most centrist of the National Assembly Categories as well as the most common.	Citizens have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.	Republic, Constitutional Monarchy
Iron Fist Consumerists	This is an oppressive state that focuses on the economy. Supply and Demand are the two commandments.	Citizens are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."	Fascism
Iron Fist Socialists	The state is omnipresent, and will provide everything for its people except political freedom.	Citizens are ruled with an iron fist by the socialist government, which grants its people the freedom to do whatever they like so long as it doesn't involve getting richer than anybody else or challenging the government.	Communist dictatorship
Left-Leaning College State	What would happen if college students ruled the world. Civil rights are the main priority, followed by political rights.	Citizens enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.	Liberalism
Left-wing Utopia	The democratic government grants broad civil rights but keeps a tight leash on business.	Citizens are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whoever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.	Egalitarian democracy
Liberal Democratic Socialists	There is a centralized economy, but it is more democratic than Democratic Socialists.	Citizens love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.	Socialist democracy
Libertarian Police State	The state does nothing to impede on your private life, yet will require you to register everything down to your sneakers with a bureau of some sort.	Citizens are proud of their wide-ranging civil freedoms, and those who aren't tend to be dragged off the streets by men in dark suits and hustled into cars with tinted windows.	Benevolent monarchy
Moralistic Democracy	The people have a say in the government, but choose to ban almost everything.	Citizens are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.	Theocracy
New York Times Democracy	Liberal democracy, with elections heavily influenced by the media.	Citizens enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.	Democracy
Psychotic Dictatorship	Corrupt, authoritarian state where everyone is considered the leader's toy.	Citizens are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."	Dictatorship
Right-wing Utopia	A conservative state where little change is desired or put into action. Religion will usually play the role of the media.	Citizens are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.	Right-wing republic
Scandinavian Liberal Paradise	High taxes, tons of civil freedom, but a weak economy.	Citizens enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.	Egalitarianism
Tyranny by Majority	Pure democracy without minority rights.	Citizens enjoy great social freedoms and frequent elections, where the majority of the populace regularly votes to increase its benefits at the expense of various hapless minorities.	Populism

Civil Rights, Economy, and Political Freedoms Descriptors

#	Civil Rights:	Economy:	Political Freedoms:
15	Frightening	Frightening	Corrupted
14	Widely Abused	All Consuming	Widely Abused
13	Excessive	Powerhouse	Excessive
12	World Benchmark	Thriving	World Benchmark
11	Superb	Very Strong	Superb
10	Excellent	Strong	Excellent
9	Very Good	Good	Very Good
8	Good	Reasonable	Good
7	Average	Fair	Average
6	Below Average	Developing	Below Average
5	Some	Weak	Some
4	Few	Fragile	Few
3	Rare	Struggling	Rare
2	Unheard Of	Basket Case	Unheard Of
1	Outlawed	Imploded	Outlawed

Government Category

Contents

Categories February 2014

Categories May 2003

Other Government Category Surveys

Category Map

Category Glossary

Civil Rights, Economy, and Political Freedoms Descriptors

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