Game Contents
Game Boards:
4 Region Boards
1 National Board
1 Organising Board
Wooden Pieces:
90 Small Cubes (8 mm)
18 in each of Black, Blue,
Red, Yellow and Green
25 Large Cubes (12 mm)
5 in each of Black, Blue,
Red, Yellow and Green
45 Rectangular Blocks (12 x 12 x 6 mm)
9 in each of Black, Blue,
Red, Yellow and Green
1 Card sheet with punch out tiles:
16 Region Tiles
20 Coalition Tiles
5 Starting Player Tiles
3 Party Basis Tiles
Translator's Notes
This being a German game, it is not surprising
that the electoral system in the game reflects
the German Electoral system, a very different
animal from British or American Election
systems. This shouldn't interfere with your
enjoyment of the game, but a basic under-
standing of the way that German regions
[Länder] are autonomous in many ways, and
that the National Parliament is built up from
individual Regional Elections, will help in
understanding the game. Also, Coalitions are
1 Tips on regarding these Rules
This set of rules looks at first glance to be
difficult to fully understand. This shouldn't
put you off learning the game. Unfortunately,
a game of this complexity, needs more than a
page or two of rules to describe it, but, on the
other hand, this is a game which will keep you
interested right up to the end, and will repay
repeated playing.
First, read through the Short description of the
4 Doubling Tiles
1 Tile "No Coalition [Keine Koalition]"
299 Playing Cards:
16 Region Cards
35 Shadow Cabinet Cards
[Schattenkabinett]
25 Contribution Cards
[Spendenkarte]
42 People's Opinion Cards
[Volkes Meinung]
56 Party Programme Cards
[Parteiprogramm]
20 Opinion Poll Cards
[Umfragekarte]
Game Money
2 Special Dice
5 Reference Cards
1 Note Block
1 Set of Rules
far commoner in European countries than in
Britain, hence their importance in this game.
A very important concept in the game is the
Wahlveranstaltung. This literally means
Election Meeting, and that's the way that I
have translated it, but in fact the word should
be read to include all the work of party
members before and during an election, and
Party Organization or Party Machine, might
be just as valid a translation.
John Webley
Game (Section 2), and look through the
game's contents, referring as you do so to
section 3 of the Rules.
This should enable you to grasp the principal
mechanism of the game, which is precisely
described in Section 5.2.8 (Converting Election
Meeting Markers into Votes). This is the
central point of the game. It may well help if
you play through the example given, using
a Region Board. Once you've done this, you
have already understood the heart of the
game, and can start playing.
The game is played over 7 rounds, each of
which follows the same course. You should
play slowly through the first round, working
systematically from each section to the next.
The importance of each step is described at
2 Short Description of the Game,
and the Aim of the Game
> As a player, you have the task of leading your party through 7 regional elections. Your most
important aid in this is money. You need money to place Shadow Cabinet Cards, to buy Media
Markers, to buy election arrangement markers and for Opinion Poll Cards. You will need to be
careful with your money though, because you won't get any more until the end of each round.
The game starts with a first round, which sets
up a starting position on the game board.
Once that is sorted out, the game moves on,
into the first election round. The course of
each election round is as follows:
Choose a starting player
In every round, a player chooses a starting
player, who is the first to play in each phase.
The player who makes the highest cash bid
may choose which player becomes the
starting player. In some phases of the game it
is an advantage to start, in others, the last
player to play has the advantage.
the start of each section (> italic type). Then
follow the rules for each section. At the end of
the game, there is a final scoring round, which
decides the winner of the game.
So, take the destiny of your party into your
hands, and lead them to victory, if you can do
it, you really will be a true powerbroker, a true
"Macher".
Programme Commission Conference
Each player has a Party Programme,
determined by their Programme Cards.
This is the basis of their political campaign,
their Manifesto. In some regions though, this
programme may not be very popular, since
the voters have different views about these
themes. Changing a party's programme may
improve it's chances in that region. During
this phase, players have the opportunity to do
this. But only one Programme Card may be
changed per round.
Shadow cabinet
The politicians in the Shadow Cabinet
support the player during the election
campaign. The game includes cards, which
may allow a politician to carry out certain
actions. Most of these cards are expensive.
There are some cheaper cards, but they
aren't as effective. Basically, the cards offer
the following types of action:
Form Coalitions
Two players may form a coalition, for a
single election in one region. This improves
the chances of winning the election, since the
votes for both parties are counted jointly. In
order to form a coalition, the two parties must
have at least 2 Programme Cards in common
in their manifestos. This may be another
reason to change a Party Programme.
Buy Media Markers
By buying Media Markers, a party wins
influence over the opinions of the voters in
a region. The party which has a majority of
the Media Markers in an electoral region, may
change one Opinion Card within that region.
When changing an Opinion Card, the player
should be careful to ensure that the new
Opinion Card coincides with one of their
own Party Programme Cards. This brings
more votes, and improves the chances of
an election victory.
Organize the Party Meetings
Party Meetings are the basis for the gathering
of votes. Each player has only a limited num-
ber of Party Meetings markers. It is important
to divide them between the various electoral
regions in a planned way, and at the right
time, so as to maximize the number of votes
obtained.
Commission Opinion Polls
This is a chance for each player to improve
the Trend towards their party, and/or weaken
the Trend towards other parties. The Trend is
a multiplication factor which, when applied to
the number of Party Meetings, gives the total
number of votes gained.
Convert the Party Meeting Markers
into votes
The conversion of the Party Meeting Markers
into votes is given by the following formula:
So, in order to gain a lot of votes in a region,
a party should have a high number of Party
Meeting Markers in the region, a positive
Trend towards the party, and a good coinci-
dence of regional opinion with the Party
Programme.
Once the campaign is over, the number of
votes cast is converted into seats. The votes
cast also decide which party, (or coalition), has
won the election. Seats won are worth victory
points, and so lead directly to winning the
game, or not. The winner of the election also
gets some further advantages, they may place
a Media Marker on the National Board, and
car influence the National Opinion. Both lead
to further victory points at the end of the
game. For this reason, it is important to win at
least one if not more of the regional elections.
At the end of each round of the game, players
receive new cash. The amount of cash that a
player receives, depends on their success in
the proceeding election, and on their Party's
Membership numbers. It is important to keep
both in view, so that you receive sufficient
cash to be able to play a part in later elections.
Anyone who finds that they have cut things
too fine, may be able to improve their financial
status by taking a contribution from an outside
body. This carries a risk however, in that ac-
cepting outside cash affects the strength of
your party. Once the cash has been paid out,
the current round is over. All that remains is
to make a few changes to the board, and
then the next round can start.
The game ends after the 7th Round, and all
that remains is the Final Reckoning of points.
The winner is the player who has gained the
most victory points. Players get victory points
by winning seats in the regional elections, by
having influence over the National Media on
the National Board, by having a strong Party
Membership, and by having a Party
Programme that coincides with National
Opinion.
3 Explanation of the game's Contents
The cards are the motor that drives the game. Clever play of cards will decide which parties do
best in each election

Contribution Cards [Spenden-Karten]

These cards allow a party to get more cash for
the party funds. Each has three sections.

Contribution [Spends]
The amount of
the contribution Opinion Cards
Risk [Risiko]
[Meinungs-Karten]
There are two of
Accept Contribution
these for every
(card face up) and
policy, a light card,
dice roll for loss
to indicate that the
of party membership
electorate agree
with this policy or a
Renounce [Verzicht] dark one to indicate
Decline Contribution that the people
(card face down) and disagree
dice roll for getting
party membership

Opinion Pall Cards [Umtrage-Karten]

These alter a party's Trend.

The alteration in the

various Parties' Trends
Programme Card
if the poll is published
[Programm-Karten]
These match the
Opinion cards, so
that every party may
Ja [Yes] = How many either agree (light
of these alterations in card) or disagree
Trend may be carried (dark card) with
out on publication each policy
Nein [No] = The gain to
the Party Membership
if the player decides
not to publish the poll

Region Cards [Länder-Karten]

These give the relationship between votes and seats in each
region. The left hand column, (Stimmen), gives the number of
votes won, and the right
hand column (Mandate)
The title of the the number of seats won
cabinet member as a result. Region Tiles
[Länder-Plättchen]
This member of the
These show how many seats
cabinet can form
each region has in total
coalitions
for one party.

The cost of using

the card

List of the possible

actions that the card
can be used for
 3.2 Wooden Pieces
The 18 small cubes (8mm) in
each colour, represent the
Party Meetings. For the rest
of the rules we will call them
Party Meeting Markers.
The 5 large cubes (12mm) in
each colour represent a party's
influence with the media. For
the rest of these rules we will
call them Media Markers.
The wooden blocks (12 x 12 x
6 mm) are markers for various
tables on the boards. They will
show the number of votes
Won, the Trends for each
party, and the Party Member-
ship (on the National Board).

3.3 Game Boards

The game is principally played on 4 Region Boards. The National Board also plays a role, by re-
cording the results from each Region Board when the election for that region has been held, as
well as showing the National Opinion, and the strength of each Party's membership, and it's
influence with the National Media. The Organization board is used to sort out cards and tiles
which are needed during the game.

The Regional Board

 The National Board
Spaces for victory points for influence over the National Media (Used during the final totting up)

A scale showing the victory points available far agreement between a Party's Programme and National Opinion

The Organization Board

Spaces for discarded tiles (Starting player, Party Membership, No Coalition, Doublers)
4 Preparation
4.1 Player's material
Each player should choose a colour and take...

Wooden pieces For Example:

18 Party Meeting Markers
5 Media Markers in that colour
Cards
1 Set of 7 Shadow Cabinet Cards
[Schattenkabinet]
1 Set of 5 Contribution Cards
[Spendenkarte]
5 Party Programme Cards
[Partei Programm]
The Party Programme Cards are dealt
face up to each player, 5 to each. Should
a player get two identical cards, or two
with contradictory opinions about the
same theme, they should swap the
cards until they have five cards that all
pertain to different themes.
A player is dealt the card "EURO now
[EURO sofort]" and then the card "EURO
later [EURO spater]". They must return
the second card to the pack and draw
another.
3 Party Programme Cards
(drawn face down)
It is irrelevant here whether two of the
cards are identical or contradictory. The
remaining Party Programme Cards are
placed face down on the appropriate
space on the discard board.
each player also takes
4 "Coalition" tiles in their colour
1 Note Block [Notationzettel]
25.000,- in Game Money

4.2 Building up the Game Boards

The Regional Boards
> The Regional Boards show how the various regional elections are progressing. They each
have on them a Vote Scale [Stimmen Skala] which shows how many votes the party has
acquired at any point. Each party has 10 spaces per party for Meeting Markers and a scale that
shows whether the Trend is towards them or away from them.. Additionally, there are 5 spaces
for Media Markers, and 4 spaces for the People's Opinion Cards [Volkes Meinung],

Preparing the Regional Boards

Each player should put on each board,
all in their own colour ...

1 Marker on the 0 space

on the Vote Scale
[Stimmen Skala]

1 Marker on the
0 space of the
Trend Scale

1 Meeting Marker

Region Cards and Tiles
The 16 Region Cards should be well shuffled
and one placed next to each of the 4 Region
Boards. The remaining 12 are placed face down
on the appropriate space on the discard board.
The matching Region Tile is then placed on
each of the 4 Region Boards. In this way, the
players can see which 4 Regions will be the
first to hold elections and in which order.
The "Peoples Opinion"
[Volkes Meinung] cards
Four Opinion Cards are dealt face up onto
the four spaces for them on the first Region
Board. If any of the cards are identical, or if
two show contradictory opinions about the
same subject, they should be changed until
all are different. The first Region Board has a
special status in the game and is from hereon
referred to as the "Current Board".
The remaining boards each get
4 Opinion Cards, divided as follows:
The 2nd board has:
3 cards face up and 1 face down.
The 2nd board has:
2 cards face up and 2 face down.
The 2nd board has:
1 cards face up and 3 face down.
In all cases, any identical cards, or contra-
dictory cards, face up, on the same board are
exchanged.
The National Board
> This helps with the final reckoning.
Each player should put a marker in their
colour on the "5" space on the Party Member-
ship Scale [Partei Basis Skala]. Otherwise the
National Board is empty at the start of the
game.
The Organization board
> The remaining material for the game is
placed on this board, so as to be handy when
needed. This makes it easier to keep track
of the game.
The remaining Programme Carets, Opinion
Cards, and Region Cards each have their
own place on the board, along with the
Opinion Poll Cards. All these piles should be
well shuffled again and then placed face down
on their spaces.
The board also has a row of spaces for various
tiles. The relevant tiles should each be placed
on their own space. The two tiles "Party
Membership pays, 1st round [Parteibasis zahlt
1. Runde]", and "Party membership pays, 3rd
round [Parteibasis zahlt 3. Runde]", should be
placed next to the 1st and 3rd boards
respectively.
The space "People's Opinion [Volkes Meinung]",
should be kept tidy, since the Opinion Cards
here will be regularly needed during the game
as the players act to change public opinion, to
better fit with their Party Programmes.
At the start of the game, 6 cards should be
taken from the general pile of Opinion Cards
and placed face up on the "Exchange Pool
[Tauschpool]" so as to be available when
needed.
5 Course Of Play
> The real rules start here. It starts with a preliminary round, then come 7 elections, i.e. 7
further rounds of the game. Each round will, whatever else happens, pass through the phases
5.2 Election Campaign, 5.3 Score current electoral region and 5.4 End of Round, in that order.
The only exception is the final round, round 7, which only features phase 5.3 Score current
electoral region.
5.1 The First Round
> The Preliminary round serves to set up a
starting position for the 4 Region Boards and
the National Board.
The players each take one of the Starting
Position [Startaufstellung] Blocks, and each
secretly notes down their preference for a
starting position. The various possibilities
are Trend markers, 6 votes, 6 Party
Meeting Markers, a Media Marker and
an increase in Party Membership .
The block shows two separate sections,
marked 1 and 2. Section 1 has three possible
variants in it, the player should just cross one
of these, section 2 has 4 possibilities, the
player should again just cross one of them.
For example, the uppermost possible choice
in section 1 gives a player one positive trend
marker in one region, another positive trend
marker in the same or another region and 6
Meeting Markers in the same or another
region. All choices except the increase in
Party Membership boxes, are linked to a
region [Wahlländer], whose name should be
written next to the symbol. The same region
can be chosen for more than one purpose.
When all the players are finished, they show
their blocks, and the appropriate numbers of
markers are placed on the various Region
Boards or if an increase in Party Membership
has been chosen, on the National Board.
It is possible for this procedure to lead to more
Media Markers being placed in one region than
there are places for them. In this case, all the
markers are piled up in that region, and count
towards the vote, but no further Media Markers
may be sold for that region. The only way that
any alteration to the media situation in this
Region can be made is through the action
of a Shadow Cabinet Card.
(See points 5,2.3 and 5.2.5 of the rules). All
actions during the preliminary round are free.
5.2 The Election Campaign
5.2.1 Choose Starting Player
> In every round, one player is chosen to
start the round. The other players then each
take their turns in clockwise order.
Each player secretly notes a sum of cash on
their block in the section "Offers for Round
Start [Gebot Rundenstart]". They need not bid
if they don't wish to. The blocks are all
revealed and the player who made the highest
bid, then decides which player should be the
starting player for the round. The player
chosen should place the Starting Player Tile
[Startspieler] for his party next to the Current
Board. If more than one player bids the same
high bid, they should decide who gets to
choose, using the Special Dice, high roll
chooses. Only the player whose bid was
successful must pay the money to the Bank.

5.2.2 Party Programme Commission
Conference
> The conference gives each player the
chance to change their party's programme.
Each player has five cards face up in front of
them, which shows the programme or Mani-
festo, on which their party will fight the
elections. They also have three cards in their
hand. These represent discussions within the
party as to what changes the party might
make in their policies. The starting player
plays first, the other players follow in
clockwise order.
First the player picks up their face-down cards
and looks at them. They may discard as many
of them as they wish, returning them to the
Organization board, and they then pick up
new cards from the programme pile [Pro-
gramm Stapel] until they once more have
three cards in their hand. Now the player may
change one card. They remove the unwanted
card from their Programme, face up in front of
them, return it to the board and place a card
from their hand, face-upwards, in it's place.
The remaining cards are put back down, face
down in front of them. Only one card per
programme may be changed per round.
5.2.3 Shadow Cabinet
> The Shadow Cabinet supports the player
during the election campaigns. With the aid of
their shadow cabinet members, they can carry
out certain actions in the regions, which may
drastically improve their chances of winning.
Basically, the possibilities given by each
Shadow Cabinet Card are different. There are
some strong cards which offer a large choice
of actions, and some weaker cards which are
more restricted. These differences are
however reflected by the price attached to
each card. The possible actions are printed
[in German] on each card. Of special interest
are some cards which have a telephone sym-
bol on them in the upper box. These cards
enable a player to form coalitions in the region
where they are played, (see point 5.2.4).
Playing Shadow Cabinet Cards
The starting player may choose one or more
cards from their stock of Shadow Cabinet
Cards. They then place them face down next
to one Region Board. A player may only place
one card in each region per turn. The other
players follow in clockwise order, then, all
cards are turned over, and the players pay the
price of the card or cards they have played to
the Bank. Players then, each in turn, carry out
one of the actions detailed on the card/s they
have played. If a player has played a card with
a telephone on it, they should now place a
Coalition Tile [Koalition] next to the card. Once
used the Shadow Cabinet Cards are removed
from the game.
 Possible Actions of a Shadow Cabinet Card:
The use of this action enables a Use of Use of this action improves
player to move their marker up this action the trend towards the play-
the Vote Scale [Stimmen Skala] by the strengthens a er's party. The player's marker on
number of spaces given. player's influence the Trend Scale [Trend Skala] is
with the media, moved upwards by the same num-
and weakens ber of spaces as there are thumbs
Use of this action allows a player
that of another on the card. Note that a party's
to designate one Opinion in one
player. Trend may never be more than
Region as the major theme of the election, The player using
+3 even if the
or to downgrade a previously chosen this action must
card shows a higher
main theme, first remove one
number of thumbs.
The player who played the card should Media Marker
either choose a doubler tile from stock (the belonging to a-
nother player This action allows a player
tiles with a "2" on them), and place it on an to move another player's
from the board,
Opinion Card This doubles the importance and return it to Trend marker down the scale.
of this particular opinion when converting that player, pay- The player set's the Trend marker
Party Meeting Markers into votes (see ing the player down the scale by as many spaces
point 5.2.8), or, alternatively, remove a 4.000,- for the as there are thumbs on the card.
Doubling Tile from an Opinion Card, privilege. They
The Trend may never be worse
then place one of
decreasing the importance of that opinion than -3, no matter how many
their own Media
to the election result. Only one Doubling thumbs are on the card. Control
Markers in place
Tile may be in place in each region. An of the old one, of the media does not
Opinion Card with a Doubling Tile on it paying 4.000,- protect a player
may not be removed from the board. to the Bank. against this action.

5.2.4 Forming Coalitions

merely stacks the two Coalition Tiles together.
> Forming a coalition helps the two parties The first player to decide this is the starting
concerned in the current election. Coalition player, thereafter, each player in clockwise
partners add their votes together, and so order may decide if they wish to force a
have better chances of winning the election, coalition on another party. If a player is al-
(see point 5.3.2) Coalitions may only be ready involved in a coalition, they may not
formed for the current election. enter into a second (voluntary or forced).
If there is more than one Once the election is over, and the seats have
Coalition Tile lying next to been divided, the Coalition Tiles are removed
the Current Region Board at from the game.
this point, the parties whose
tiles are there may attempt to
form a coalition for the period of the current
election. A coalition only ever involves two
parties. Two parties may only form a coalition
if at least two of their Programme Cards are
identical. Such a coalition is voluntary, and
requires the agreement of both players. As
a reminder of the coalition, the two relevant
Coalition Tiles should be stacked together.
A coalition may however be forced on a party
if at least three of the two parties Opinion Cards
are identical. The player whose turn it is
 change Pool [Tauschpool]. The new Opinion
Card must be different from all those already
there, and may not be the opposite card of one
already in place, in either case, another should
be drawn. Opinion Cards with a Doubling Tile
on them are immune from exchange. This ex-
change of cards starts in the current region,
and moves round clockwise through the other
three regions, if a player has control in them.

5.2.6 Organize Election Meetings

> Election meetings are the central point for
all the work that a party puts into an election.
They form the basis for the acquisition of vot-
es, and so the basis of the election result in
the region. Each marker costs 1.000,-.
The starting player is the first to play, and or-
ganize their election meetings. They buy and
place Party Meeting Markers onto their spaces
5.2.5 Buying Media Markers on the four Region Boards. They may only play
> Buying Media Markers makes it possible a maximum of 4 markers per Region per turn.
for a party to have some influence over the There are only 10 spaces for Meeting Markers
opinions of the electorate in a region. To suc- per party per region, once all the spaces are
ceed in this aim, the party must have a major-
ity of the Media Markers in a region. Bach
Media Marker costs 4.000,-.
The starting player is the first to play. They
may, if they wish, buy a Media Marker and
place it on a Region Board of their choice. If
they do not wish to at this point they may
pass, but this does not prevent them from
buying and placing a marker later during this
phase. The next player in clockwise order then
buys a marker or passes, and play continues
in this way, until all the players have passed in full, that party may not place any more mar-
turn. This means of course that one player may kers. By converting markers into votes, a party
continue to buy and place markers, even if all may make space for new markers (see point
the other players have passed. 5.2.8).
Media Markers may only be placed on an
empty space on a Region Board. There are 5
of these in each region. Once all 5 are full, no
further Media Markers may be placed in that
region. Once all players have passed in turn,
players should check whether any player has
a majority of markers in any region. This need
only be a simple majority, i.e. the player must
have more markers than any other player,
rather than an absolute majority.
If a player has control of the media in a region,
they may exchange (face up) one of the Opinion
Cards in that region for another from the Ex-
5.2.7 Auction Opinion Polls
> Opinion polls enable a player to improve
the Trend towards their Party. It is also possi-
ble to use them to swing the Trend away from
another Party. However, this entails a certain
risk, since Opinion Polls must be bought
"blind". One Opinion Poll is auctioned per
round for each Region in play.
The starting player plays first, and must either
make a bid or pass. Players who have once
passed may not bid again in that auction. All
other players follow in round, they must either
make a higher offer or pass. The player who
makes the highest bid pays the money bid and
takes the Opinion Poll Card for that Region.
They then look at the card and decide whether
they want to publish the poll or not.
Publish Opinion Poll:
If a player decides to publish a poll, they may
carry out up to two of the results of the poll,
i.e. they may move the Trend markers of one
or two parties by the amount and in the direc-
tion indicated on the card. A thumbs up
means that the trend marker rises, a thumbs
down means that it falls.
If a player has a majority of the Media Markers
in a region, their party is immune from the
negative effects of an opinion poll. I.e. their
Trend marker may not be moved downward.
Don't Publish Opinion Poll;
If a player decides not to publish a poll, they
get a dice roll to improve the membership of
their party as compensation. They roll both of
the Special Dice and move their Party Member-
ship marker on the National Board upwards by
the number on the dice.
In both cases, the Opinion Poll Card is
returned to the Organization Board.
The same procedure is carried out in turn for
all four Region Boards.
5.2.8 Converting Election Meeting Markers into Votes
> This is the central point of the game. The Parties have the opportunity to convert the work
that they have done towards the election into real votes, and only real votes count towards
victory in the election. The players have to estimate, whether it is better to convert that work
into votes at this point of the campaign, or whether waiting might be better. Whatever the
case, a player may only decide to convert markers into votes if they have at least 5 markers
in a region.

In each region in turn, starting with the 4th
region (the one with only one face up Opinion
Card), and working anticlockwise, the players
may decide, if they wish, to convert their Elec-
tion Meeting counters into votes. The Starting
player is the first to decide in each region, and
the other players follow in clockwise order.
There is no point in players converting Meet-
ing Markers on the Current Board into votes
at this point, since that Region is going to be
scored at a later point in this round anyway,
(see point 5.3.1).
The number of votes gained per marker is not
always the same. The number is affected by
the Party's Trend, and by the number of Opin-
ion Cards in the Region that match the Party's
Programme Cards. The conversion is made
using the Formula:
Party Meetings x Factor
(Faktor = The Trend + the number of Party Programme cards
that coincide with the opinions within the region)
A player need not convert all their markers in
a Region at this point, they may decide to
convert a proportion of them, and keep some
back for a later round.
The Trend is given by the position of that
party's Trend marker in that Region, and could
be in a zero, positive (thumbs up) or negative
(thumbs down) position, The Number of mat-
ching cards is obvious, players receive +1 for
every card in their party's programme that
matches a card in the People's Opinion section
on the Region Board, and -1 for every card
they have that contradicts a card in this
section. Cards with a double tile on them give
a double result, +2 if they agree and -2 if they
contradict the cards in a party's programme.
The factor is then multiplied by the number
of Meeting Markers that the player wishes to
convert and the player's marker on the Vote
Scale [Stimmen Skala] is moved up by the
appropriate amount.
For a player with a negative Trend, and/or
cards which contradict the People's Opinion,
the factor could be zero or even negative. In
this case, the player receives 1 vote for every
2 markers which they convert. Single markers
do not bring any votes. If a party gets 50 or
more votes, their marker is left on the 50
space on the Vote Scale. Any votes over 50
aren't counted. If another party later also
achieves 50 or more votes, their marker is
played on top of the first one, and the parties
stay in that order when the region is finally
counted up. The last party to reach the 50
space is the leading party in the election.
Markers which have been converted are
returned to the player and may be used
again.
At this point, if a player has an absolute
majority of the votes in a region, i.e. they have
more votes than all other parties combined,
they may exchange one Opinion Card on the
Region Board for one from the Exchange Pool
[Tauschpool] on the Organization Board.
 5.3 Score the Current Region
> At this point, the election in the current region finally takes place. It will be won by the party
or coalition that gets the most votes.
5.3.1 Determine Mandate
Firstly, all parties beginning with the starting
player and going on in clockwise order, con-
vert ail their remaining Meeting Markers in
the current Region into votes, multiplying the
number of markers by the party's current
factor (same Formula as in point 5.2.8).
Then, using the Region Card, they convert
the number of votes that they have into seats
[Mandate]. The number of seats won should
be noted on the back of the player's note sheet
[Notationszettel], under regional Seats
[Ländermandate], in the correct box for the
Party and the Round. The number of seats
won in each Region is reckoned up as part of
the Final Reckoning, and is therefore very
important.
Region Card
36 Votes
(Stimmen)
= 42 Seats
(Mandate)
5.3.2 Decide Election Victor in
Current Election
The victor in the current election is decided by
the number of votes that the parties have gain-
ed. The party with most votes wins. If more
than one party has the same number of votes,
(mostly when two or more parties have got 50
votes), then the last party to get to that num-
ber of votes is said to have won by a "Short
Head" (literally in German, a nose length).
If two parties have formed a coalition, the
votes for both parties are added together. The
coalition wins if they have more votes than
any single party or other coalition. If a coali-
tion has the same number of votes as another
coalition or a single party the basic rule still
applies, and the party (or coalition) with the
highest Vote Marker wins. If there are two or
more highest Vote Markers, then the party (or
coalition) wins which Vote Marker is above
("Short Head").
5.3.3 Results of the Election Victory
> The winner for winners, in a coalition) of
each election, has the opportunity to influence
the National Board and so to gain advantages
in the Final Reckoning.
Single Party Victory
If a single party wins the election by a number
of votes (rather than by a "Short Head"), they
may place 1 Media Marker on the National
Board. They may only do this however, if they
have at least one Media Marker on the current
Region Board. The marker is placed in the row
of spaces at the top of the National Board, in
the space with the same number as the current
round.
They may also take 2 Opinion Cards from the
current Region, and place them in the National
Opinion spaces (at the bottom of the National
Board). They must place the cards in the first
free spaces, starting from the left of the board.
If a winning party wishes to place a card which
is already represented on these spaces, they
place the card on top of the first one there, in
this position, it acts as a Security Card, securing
National Opinion against an attempt to change
it. A secured opinion may only be removed by
the play of a contradictory Opinion Card.
The same Opinion Card may not be represen-
ted twice in the National Opinion spaces, and
two contradictory cards may not be present
simultaneously.
If a player wishes to place a card which contra-
dicts a card already present, they simply remove
the first card, along with any Security card on it,
and replace it with the contradictory card.
If all the spaces on the National Board are al-
ready full, the player may replace one of the old
 cards, provided that it is not Secured, with
another card of their choice.
If a party only wins by a "Short Head", they
may place a Media Marker as above, and also
place 1 Opinion Card of their choice from the
Region Board. The party beaten by the "Short
Head" may also place a Media Marker, but do
not have the chance to place an Opinion Card.
Victory by a Coalition
If a Coalition wins an election, (whether by a
"Short Head" or by more), then each party
may place a Media Marker on the National
Board (providing they had a Media Marker on
the Region Board). Each party may also place
an Opinion Card form the Region Board on the
National Board, starting with the Party that
gained the greater number of votes, (if equal
then "Short Head" rules apply).
5.3.4 Increase Party Membership
> The Parties may now improve their mem-
bership, depending on how many of the
Party's Programme Card match the National
Opinion Cards.
All parties now check how many of their Party
Programme Cards match those on the
5.4 End of the Round
> At the end of each round, the players must change a few things in preparation for the next
Round.
5.4.1 Turning the Opinion Cards
At the end of each round, the players must
change a few things in preparation for the
next Round.
First the Current Round Board is cleared and
all markers returned to their starting positions.
Then four new Opinion Cards are dealt onto
the board, three face down and one face up.
A new Region Card is drawn and placed next
to the board while the matching tile is placed
on it. All other boards are left as they were
except that one Opinion Card is turned over
on each board. If this results in their being two
identical cards on a board, or two with contra-
dictory opinions, the new card is removed and
another drawn to take it's place. The board
which has four face up Opinion Cards, now
becomes the Current Board.
National Board. For each matching card, the
party moves it's Party Membership marker on
the National Board up by the number of
figures shown above the relevant National
Opinion Card. Secured Opinions are treated
as if they were normal Opinions. Contradictory
Opinions are ignored.
The example on page 19 of the German rules,
shows a player who has the "Sozialstaat Mehr"
card, which is also one of the National Opinion
Cards, and has three figures above it. This
player therefore moves their Party Member-
ship [Parteibasis] marker 3 spaces upwards.
5.4.2 Special Cases
Tile "Parteibasis zahlt 5. Runde"
At the end of the first Round, the tile "Partei-
basis zahlt 5. Runde" (Party Membership pays
after the 5th Round) is placed next to the
board which has just been scored and will be
the Current Board in the 5th round.
Tile "Keine Koalition"
At the end of the 3rd Round, the board that has
just been scored, and which will be the Current
Board for the 7th Round, has the tile "No
Coalition [Keine Koalition]", placed next to it.
No Coalitions may be formed in the 7th
Round. Shadow Cabinet Cards with the tele-
phone symbol on them may still be played,
but no coalitions may be formed. This tile
serves as a reminder of this.
The end of the 6th Round
The End of Round procedure is not necessary
at the end of the 6th Round. The 6th Round
ends after point 5.3 (Score the Current Region).
7th Round
The 7th Round is very short, it comprises
merely of point 5.3 (Score Current Region). I.e.
decide number of seats, decide election victor,
results of election victory and increase Party
Membership.
When first setting up the board for the 7th
Region, two Opinion Cards should therefore
be placed face up, rather than one as normal.
5.4.3 Pay Out Election Money
> The parties now get money, which they
urgently need to help them fight the elections.
There are two separate payouts, one based on
the seats gained in the current election, and
one based on Party Membership.
Seats gained
The Party receives 1000 times the number of
seats gained in the current election, i.e. if they
won 12 seats, they receive 12.000,-.
Party Membership
The Party receives 1000 times the Party Mem-
bership. This is however, only paid out after
Rounds 1, 3 and 5.
5.4.4 Party Contributions
> The cash gained from seats and party mem-
bers is often not enough to finance a Party's
plans. The Party may therefore decide to ac-
cept a contribution.
Beginning with the Starting player, each player
in turn has to select one of their Contribution
Cards [Spendenkarten], and places it in front
of them. If they wish to accept the contribu-
tion, they play the card face up, if however they
wish to decline the contribution, they play it
face down.
Players who have played their card face up,
take the amount shown on the card from the
Bank. Taking the contribution however carries
a risk. The players must follow the instructions
given under "Risk [Risiko]", and roll a die or
dice. Normally this results in a loss of Party
Membership (not more than 3 per contribu-
tion). Once ail the players who placed cards
face up have played, the players with face
down cards turn them over. By declining the
contribution, the player gets an increase in
Party Membership. The players may roll a die
or dice, as shown on the section of the card
marked Verzicht (decline), and get an increase
in Party Membership, of the numbers roiled. In
addition, the player who declined the largest
contribution, gets an extra bonus. They may
roll the Special Dice another 3 times, and gain
the number rolled as extra Party Members, If
two or more players each decline the same
highest contribution, no one gets this bonus.
The used Contribution Cards get out of the
game.
Take the Contri-
bution — 50.000,-
and dice roll
(in this case 3).
Reduce the Party
Membership by the
points on the
highest dice.
Renounce the Con-
tribution dice
roll for getting
Party Membership.
6 Game End
The game ends after the 7th Round. There then follows the Final Reckoning.

At this point, each player needs the back side
of their notice sheet, marked "Scoring [Abrech-
nung]". This gives an easy way of reckoning
up the points for each Party and so finding the
overall winner of the game. Players score
Victory points for:
Total seats gained [Mandate], Media Markers
on the National Board [Medien], for matching
cards in the Party's Programme with the Opin-
ion Cards on the National Board [Überein-
stimmungen zwischen Parteiprogramrn und
Bundesmeinung] and for Party Membership
[Parteibasis]. There are also Bonus Points for
first and second place in the Party Member-
ship, and for Security Cards.
6.1 Seats [Mandate]
Players should enter the total number of seats
won by the party in the 7 Regional Elections in
this row.
two parties have an equal highest number,
they get 8 points each, and the third party
nothing.
6.4 Agreement of Party Programmes
with National Opinion
Parties receive Victory Points for each card in
the National Opinion spaces that matches a
card in their Party Programme. The points
gained are shown in the black circles beneath
each card space on the National Board. The
total points gained should be entered in this
row. In addition there is a row for bonus
points gained for Security cards [Bonus 5
je Sicherungs Karte): Players get 5 points for
each Security card that they match.

6.2 Media [Medien]

Players should enter the sum of the points
gained by each party for having Media Mar-
kers on the National Board. The points for
each marker are given in the black circles
next to each space for the Media Markers. In
general, markers placed in later rounds score
less than markers from earlier rounds.
All Victory Points are now added together. The
player with the highest total wins the game.

6.3 Party Membership [Parteibasis]

The players use this row to enter the points for
Party Membership, one point per space on the
Party Membership Scale. In addition, the Party
with the highest total Party Membership gets
a bonus of 10 points, and the Party with the
second highest total, a bonus of 6 points. If
7 Tips for Play
> There is no strategy for this game that will ensure victory, but here are a few tips which have
come out of our test games, and should help you to achieve a good total of Victory points.
Don't try to win the game on your own. Coali-
tions are very useful, especially in catching a
player who has taken an early lead. Always
keep an eye on your Party Programme, and
that of other Parties, so that you can form
coalitions with them. Don't let political
scruples stop you from making a good deal.
Don't try to win every Regional Election. The
limited number of markers etc makes that im-
possible, even if you have enough money. Let
some regions go by the board and concentrate
on a few. Look to see how many total seats
are up for election in each region, the larger
Regions offer a larger number of seats.
The last (7th), Regional Election is especially
important. Quite often, the winner of the game
doesn't emerge until this election. You should
pay special attention when planning to this
election.
The game is characterised by a lack of every-
thing, players always have too little cash or
Media Markers or Meeting Markers. Be careful
when playing, to keep some material back as a
reserve, rather than splashing it all out at the
start of the game. Don't let your fellow players
know how much cash you have.
The game has some elements of negotiation,
which require discussion with other players.
Negotiation and trading bring interaction into
the game, and heighten it's dramatic elements,
however, no agreements made during the
game are binding, and it is up to each player
to decide how much they should trust the
other players, and to ensure that any
treachery is suitably rewarded.