Glossary

Alphabetical definitions of terms used throughout A House Divided and its wiki.

Action: The primary resource consumed by player activities. Base 4 per turn, refreshed every real hour, with office bonuses added. Unused actions carry forward up to the Energy-scaled cap (baseline 200). Above the hoard threshold (baseline 100), the pool loses 4 actions before each refresh.

Action bonus: Additional actions per turn granted by holding a specific office. Example: Senator gets +2/turn; President gets +4/turn.

Alignment: The component of primary and general election scores based on how close a candidate's policy position (econ + social) is to the party platform or the voter demographic. Also used in canvassing: the closer your ideology to a demographic group's ideology, the more effective your canvassing.

AMS (Additional Member System): The mixed-member proportional representation system used in Germany's Bundestag elections. Seat allocation is partially proportional to party vote share, making third parties more viable than in pure FPTP.

Approval rating: A country-level measure of public opinion, computed from the country's own metrics against the national picture, with national effects (a war, a national address, international statements, the state of the cabinet) layered on top. It is not any one politician's favorability. Tracked historically and visible on country pages. See Government Approval.

Cell: One combination of census buckets (for example white, mature, no college, middle income) used in vote appeal and turnout calculations. Each cell has an economic/social position averaged from its buckets and a turnout rate blended from theirs. Cells are what the vote engine counts.

Cabinet: The executive advisory body appointed by the President (US), Prime Minister (UK, JP), or Chancellor (DE). Cabinet positions grant certain powers (the Secretary of the Treasury can authorize FX Reserve Transfers). US Cabinet members are confirmed by the Senate; parliamentary cabinets are appointed directly after government formation.

Campaign: A Campaign document created when you declare candidacy in an election. The campaign tracks your fundraising level, ground game, media spending, opposition research, and campaign actions. Campaign passive effects run each turn; the 2× season multiplier applies in the final 4 turns.

Campaign season: The final 4 turns (real hours) before an election ends. All campaign passive effects double during campaign season. This is the most valuable window for canvassing and active campaigning.

Candidacy: Your formal entry into an election's primary. Candidacies are tied to a party, an election, and an office. You can only hold one active candidacy at a time.

Canvassing: An action (₳100, 1 action) that boosts voter turnout for a specific demographic group in your active campaign state (home state for most characters; presidential candidates use their travel/primary state). Effect is subject to alignment multiplier, diminishing returns, and a ±20 cap. Doubles in effectiveness during campaign season.

Central bank: Each country has a central bank (US: Federal Reserve; UK: Bank of England; DE: European Central Bank; JP: Bank of Japan; planned economies a passive monobank) that sets interest rates, affecting bond yields, corporate borrowing, and currency strength. The bank's chair is a high-bonus office; in the US the rate is set by the FOMC rather than the chair alone.

Chancellor: The head of government in Germany. Equivalent to Prime Minister in the parliamentary sense. Elected by the Bundestag majority.

Coalition: A formal agreement between two or more parties to collectively hold a parliamentary majority. Coalitions allow smaller parties to share power. Coalitions can be dissolved by member vote.

Commons: The House of Commons, the elected lower chamber of the UK Parliament. 650 seats (625 in the 1953 preset), contested as one multi-seat race per region. Whoever commands a Commons majority forms the government.

Command economy: A planned economy with administered prices, state-owned enterprises, and a monobank. Used by the USSR, China, and East Germany. See Planned / Command Economies.

Country: The nation your character belongs to (US, UK, DE, JP, and others). It determines which country's elections, legislature, and parties they participate in. Set at character creation, but can be changed later through relocation, which resets your national influence and party affiliation in the new country.

Cycle: One complete election from spawn to resolution. When a general election resolves, a new cycle begins immediately (next election spawns).

Demographic effect: A turn-processing phase that shifts state-level demographic composition based on economic conditions and active policies.

Diminishing returns: A mechanic that reduces the effectiveness of repeated actions on the same target. Canvassing a turnout modifier already at +18 returns ~10% of base effect. Applies to both canvassing and influence building.

Dissolution: Ending a parliamentary term early to call snap elections (UK Commons, JP Shūgiin, DE Bundestag, IE Dáil). Triggers a compressed election cycle. A system conversion (a collapsed regime or a ratified constitutional convention) also dissolves the legislature, in any system.

Econ axis: The economic dimension of the two-axis ideology grid (−5 to +5). Negative = left (redistributive, regulated); positive = right (market, low tax). Alongside the social axis, determines party alignment scoring.

Election timer: The countdown tracking when a primary or general election ends. Processing group 7 advances timers each turn; elections marked "completed" by the timer phase are resolved in the same turn.

Endorsement: A formal expression of support from a player or NPP for your candidacy. NPP endorsements grant campaign actions. Player endorsements count as campaign actions for presidential races only.

Favorability: A 0 to 100 stat representing public approval of your character. Used in primary scoring (worth up to 35 pts state, 25 pts presidential), general vote appeal (as an approval scalar), and national/PM approval ratings.

FOMC: The US Federal Reserve's 7-seat rate-setting committee. The chair proposes hike, cut, or hold; a strict majority of seated governors must agree. Vacant seats do not count, while seated governors without a ballot abstain. Seats are filled by presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Other central banks keep a single governor. See FOMC / Rate-Setting Board.

FPTP (First Past the Post): In single-seat races, the candidate with the most votes wins. In the game's multi-seat FPTP families, the flag also enables a third-party spoiler transfer before the configured seat allocator distributes seats.

Fiscal year: The game-year equivalent of October (turn 40 of 48). Budgets are finalized, deficits/surpluses posted, and regional grant allocations calculated once per game year.

General election: The second phase of an election cycle, after primaries. Candidates from different parties compete; votes accumulate each turn using the Total Appeal Pipeline. The final 4 turns carry 30% of total votes.

GOTV (Get Out The Vote): The party action that boosts demographic turnout modifiers. Controlled by party chair GOTV budget allocation. Stacks additively with player canvassing, subject to the ±20 cap.

Ground game: A campaign branch tree (starter node plus Swing Canvassing, Get-Out-The-Vote, and Volunteer Corps branches) that boosts turnout in a race's competitive areas. Costs ongoing maintenance; unaffordable branches auto-downgrade.

Home state / region: The sub-national unit (US state, UK region, DE Land, JP prefecture, or another country's configured region) where your character is based. Determines which elections you can enter, where you can canvass, and where your in-state party org applies.

Ideology grid: The two-axis system (econ × social) used to position characters, parties, NPPs, and voter groups. Alignment scoring uses Manhattan distance on this grid.

Infamy: A stat increased by attacks, large personal campaign donations, and some random-event choices. High infamy reduces NPP endorsement success and trims your vote weight and primary standing. It decays by 5% each turn rather than resetting at elections. Defying a whip does not add infamy.

Influence: Short for Political Influence (state level) or National Political Influence (national level). Used in primary score and general vote calculations. Built via Campaign actions; decays 0.75%/turn.

Kokkai: The Japanese national legislature, composed of the Shūgiin (lower) and Sangiin (upper) houses.

Layer 1: The census dimensions a region carries and the buckets inside them. In the US: race, age, education, wealth (plus ideology, which canvassing can target). They are combined into the cells used for vote appeal and turnout.

Majority: The seat count required to control a legislative chamber or form a government: a bare majority of the chamber. US House: 218; UK Commons: 326; JP Shūgiin: 233; IE Dáil: 81; DE Bundestag: 316 in the modern preset, 244 in the 1953 preset (487 seats).

Manhattan distance: The sum of absolute differences on the econ axis and social axis. Used to calculate ideological alignment. Distance 0 is a perfect match. State primaries price each point at 1.25 against state lean and 0.75 against party position; the party-only fallback prices it at 2.

Ministerial actions: The daily action pool for a cabinet seat (called cabinet actions in presidential systems). They refill at midnight Eastern and cap at 4. See Cabinet Guide.

Media Spending: A campaign branch tree (starter node plus Broadcast, Television, and Rapid Response branches) that passively boosts the candidate's favorability each turn. Doubles during campaign season.

National metrics: Country-level aggregated statistics (GDP, inflation, healthcare index, etc.) derived from state-level data each turn. Visible on country overview pages.

National Front: East Germany's single electoral list for the Volkskammer. The SED leads; approved bloc parties take the rest. See East Germany.

NPI (National Political Influence): A national-level reputation metric, distinct from state PI. Grows from high offices, national legislation, and long-term activity. The primary influence stat for presidential primaries and national vote calculations.

NPP (Non-Player Politician): An autonomous politician generated by the game to fill empty seats and primary slots. NPPs enter elections, vote on bills, and make decisions based on ideology alignment and whip directives. They receive a 0.5× primary score penalty when a player is in the same primary.

Office: An elected or appointed position that grants action bonuses, income, and legislative/executive access. See Reference: Offices for all offices and their stats.

Opposition research: A campaign branch tree (starter node plus Dossier, Scandal Leak, and Counter-Intel branches) that passively debuffs a target opponent's favorability each turn. Retargetable.

Party org: Party organization: a 0 to 100 metric per state representing a party's ground-level infrastructure. General-election weight uses the party's normalized state Org share raised to the 0.2 exponent. Presidential primaries use party influence and national reach instead.

Phase: One step in the hourly turn processing sequence. Turn processing uses 14 ordered groups with more than 120 named base phases, plus country election phases. See Reference: Turn Order for the grouped sequence.

Political Influence (PI): State-level reputation built via Campaign actions. Used in state primary scoring (up to 25 pts) and general vote reach calculations. Decays 0.75% per turn.

Primary: The intra-party competition phase of an election. Down-ballot primaries count real ballots from the party's registered voters over the primary's closing window, split each turn by primary-score standing; the top count per party advances to the general. Presidential primaries hand out pledged delegates. Closed when the primary window ends.

Primary score: The calculated standing (0 to 100) that sets a candidate's share of each turn's primary ballots. Comprises alignment + favorability + influence. NPPs receive a 0.5× penalty when a player is competing.

Prime Minister: The head of government in the UK, Japan and Ireland (Taoiseach). Emerges from a parliamentary majority; no direct election.

RCV (Ranked Choice Voting): An alternative to FPTP used in some US states (set by state legislation). Third parties compete on equal footing without the spoiler effect.

Sangiin: Japan's House of Councillors (upper house). 248 seats, staggered 6-year terms. Cannot be dissolved. Revises legislation but cannot override the Shūgiin on confidence matters.

SCOTUS: The US Supreme Court, 9 seats. A justice seat does not occupy your current office. The President nominates; the Senate confirms by majority. See Supreme Court.

SED: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, East Germany's ruling party.

Shūgiin: Japan's House of Representatives (lower house). 465 seats allocated through the configured multi-seat election path. The confidence-granting chamber: PM survival requires Shūgiin majority support. Can be dissolved for snap elections.

Snap election: An early election called before the end of a parliamentary term. Available in the UK, JP, DE, and IE; also forced on any system by a regime conversion. Compresses the campaign cycle dramatically. See Snap Elections.

Social axis: The social dimension of the two-axis ideology grid. Negative = progressive (individual rights, social liberalism); positive = conservative (traditional values, social order).

Spoiler effect: In FPTP elections, a third-party candidate draws votes from the ideologically closest major party, potentially handing the race to the opposition. Modeled by transferring a small share (4%, halved in presidential races) of a third party's group-level votes from the nearest major-party candidate.

State metrics: Per-state statistics (healthcare index, economic index, education index, environment index, etc.) that shift based on active policies, demographic effects, and spending. Used in approval calculations and vote appeal.

Term: The fixed length of time an elected official holds an office before the next election cycle opens. US House: 2 years (96 turns); US Senate: 6 years (288 turns); Governor: 4 years (192 turns).

Total Appeal Pipeline: The per-turn formula used to calculate how many votes each candidate receives from each demographic group. Components: reach, appeal, approval scalar, party org scalar. Used identically for vote accumulation and polling projections.

Turn: One unit of game time = one game week. In normal multiplayer mode, the main turn runs once per real hour. Quarter-hour market updates and the half-hour election, growth, inflation and exchange-rate updates do not grant another action refresh or advance race deadlines. Sub-hour updates wait while a main turn is processing; fast mode uses its own main-turn cadence.

Turn log: A record of everything that happened during a turn: which elections resolved, which bills advanced, which phases ran. Stored for 24 hours. Visible to admins; key events visible to players via notifications.

Whip directive: An instruction from party leadership to NPP legislators on how to vote on a specific bill. NPPs in the party generally follow the whip. Players can defy the whip freely; it costs leadership trust, not infamy. A vote a whip writes onto you never moves your own positions.

Withdrawal: Cancelling an active candidacy. Once withdrawn, you cannot re-enter the same election. Your votes are permanently removed from the tally. Candidates who switch from one party to another mid-election are auto-withdrawn. Independent candidates who join a party stay in the race under their new party.

World events: Scheduled country-scope events offered to a head of government. At most one pending offer per country per turn. See World Events.

Related#

• Reference: Formulas: All formula details.
• Reference: Turn Order: Full turn processing sequence.
• Reference: Offices: All offices and their stats.
• FAQ: Answers to common questions.