Well, okay maybe not a complete disaster, but it's at least very annoying. Somehow the leader of one of these factions becomes president and now that faction is boosted even further. Before too long you have very angry Militarist and Materialist factions, and you have no idea why. Early on, you meet some Materialists that want to be friends, so you oblige. Maybe you even choose a Democratic government. Say you're like I was and want to play as gentle giants that embrace their inner zen - you choose Pacifist Spiritualists who are Strong and Natural Sociologists. Did you know that having the Strong trait makes your pops more likely to be Militarist and thus increase the chances of having a Militarist faction form? That any pops with the Repugnant trait on a planet make other pops there more likely to turn into Xenophobes? That certain diplomatic treaties with Materialist or Spiritualist empires make it more likely for your pops to shift to those ethics as well? For most of the almost 1000 hours I've played this game, I had no idea. The problem is that the mechanics for additional factions forming are not well explained, and many of the factors involved do not influence factions in exactly the ways you would expect. Outside of my starting ethics, I only have a small amount of control over which ones form. It makes sense that I would have very little control over this, but it's just.
Even if I influence the election, every 10 years I have to worry about losing a random scientist or governor I was relying on. This fits RP-wise, but it can be extremely frustrating in practice. But as Democratic not only will my bonuses be weaker and harder to obtain (mandates vs agendas), they will also be harder to control. I know my leaders give solid empire-wide bonuses, and I know which of those bonuses I would like to have.
This is a big strike against Democratic governments in Stellaris as it is. The biggest issue with these type of mechanics is how quickly they shift from being interesting and dynamic to frustrating and uncontrollable.
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