Join the new world

I was bored tonight and I was browsing around the eRepublik site and I clicked on the Check your unlocked feature page and I saw the requirements for activities like joining parties and votings etc. Since I start playing this game during the beta, such requirements of levels etc, never effected me in any ways. While I might be a bit noobish but activities like having your own newspaper, voting rights, joining parties, and even the right to own a company have requirements. While I understand that this is a game in which one is to level up to balance new and old players etc, but it is not really democratic.

Democracy is really hard to define and many argue that there is no democracy. Since democracy does not apply for all peoples, for example in real life, felons and people who score below 70 in a IQ test does not have the right to participate in politics; therefore, it is more polyarchy (poly-many archy- rule) most are represented instead of all. That is why Robert Dahl suggested that what we associate as democracy is really a polyarchy.

However, is eAmerica or eRepublik a polyarchy? If we view players are all the same and that there are no differences between new and old players, then eAmerica/ eRepublik might not even be a polyarchy. Since new players cannot join parties and vote and have a newspaper, it prevents them from expressing their political opinions and views. While they can shout on the shoutbox etc, they do not have an access to assembly and a formal “forum” in the game itself. However, it must be dependent on the percentage of the people who can vote. If most of the people can vote, then it doesn’t matter if a minority cannot vote. In real life America, people under 18 cannot participate in politics but it is still a polyarchy. ERepublik and eAmerica is the same and we can view new players as “children” growing up before they can participate in politics. Overall, I think eAmerica and eRepublik is a polyarchy. since the average level of eAmerica is lvl. 12 and eRepublik is lvl.13 which is above the requirement level for political participation.

On a personal note, I believe that regardless of what lvl. you are, the right to have a newspaper should be a right. While not all newspapers on eRepublik are political, but it is a platform free expressions. Even kids in real life can publicly express themselves about politics and other issues they concerns them; however, in eRepublik there is no platform for them. While I believe that the cost to form the newspaper should exist but having newspaper ownership to lvl. 8

While I understand the balancing aspect of the game as well as to reward players to achieve a higher rank, it prevents eRepublik a true democracy. While democracy is really up to your individual definition, I tend to believe in a polyarchy. While there are potential aspects of eRepublik that might be “undemocratic/ unpolyarchic” these aspects affects the minority. Regardless I believe that having a newspaper should be available at any level since it is the main platform other than pms, party forums (off site), shoutboxes, etc to express themselves.