Recognition and favourability
| Scale | 0 to 100 for each figure |
|---|---|
| Start | A private citizen starts unknown everywhere; every voter starts neutral, at 50, on favourability |
| Reads | Shown separately for the player's home state, the whole country, and the player's own party |
| Pace | Real and Arcade change how fast these figures move (see Career starts) |
| Seam | Carried over to the new cast of voters when the game's era changes (see Era shifting) |
The two figures
Every figure Career Mode shows about a player's public standing comes from the same two numbers, tracked separately for every state and for every voter in the game's current cast. Recognition measures how many of that group's people have heard of the player. Favourability measures what the people who have heard of the player think of them, on a scale from 0 to 100. There is no separate score for standing with a party; the party figures shown elsewhere are the same recognition and favourability figures, read only for the voters who belong to the player's own side.
A private citizen starts unknown everywhere, with no recognition in any state. Every voter starts neutral on favourability, at 50, whether or not they have heard of the player. A career that begins already holding an office, such as a start as governor, begins with a public profile already in place in that office's state.
How recognition changes
Recognition rises through exposure: every activity on The board puts the player in front of a group of voters for the month, and reaching that group raises how many of them have heard the player's name. The same amount of exposure moves an unknown player's name further than it moves an already well-known one, so recognition levels off rather than climbing without limit. Outside office, recognition fades slowly over time if a player is not being seen. Winning an office raises recognition sharply and holds it at a high level for as long as the player is in office; leaving office lowers it again, but not all the way back down. Recognition changes faster, and fades more slowly, in Arcade mode than in Real mode.
How favourability changes
Favourability only changes because of what the player actually says. Most activities carry a line of the player's own words. That line is judged by every voter in the game's current cast, not only by the people it was said to, and each voter's opinion shifts toward the score their own verdict gives the line, in proportion to how much of that month's exposure they actually received. This means a line that plays well in one setting can cost the player favourability somewhere else. Media and party activities carry no line, so they raise recognition without changing anyone's opinion. No feedback appears the moment a line is submitted; the verdict is reported in that month's debrief.
Splash and national exposure
Some exposure is not aimed at a particular group. A state splash reaches every voter in the player's own state; a national splash, of the kind produced by press and television, reaches every voter in every state. This is why national media coverage can build a nationwide name in a way that door-to-door campaigning cannot. A governor also gains a small amount of favourability across their own state simply by holding the job.
Officeholders
While the player holds an office, a speech or a public appearance only teaches a voter the player's name if that voter reacted strongly to it, one way or the other; a lukewarm reaction does not spread the player's name any further. Voters who share that reaction's political leaning also pick up some of the news second-hand. Favourability is not affected by this rule: it still moves toward each voter's own verdict as normal. As a result, a strong reaction while in office shapes what the people who heard it think of the player, without necessarily making the player any better known beyond them.
The presidency is the exception to this rule. A President is known to every voter in every state, and each month the voters' reactions to the President's decisions change how every group of voters in every state sees the President. See The presidency from a career.
Reading the figures
The hub shows these figures under several names:
- Known in the state and known nationally — the player's recognition, read for the home state and for the whole country.
- Liked in the state and liked nationally — the player's favourability, read the same way.
- Known to Democrats or Republicans — recognition and favourability read only among the player's own party.
- Primary strength — how well known and how well liked the player is among their own party's voters, combined, and read specifically through the state or district holding the race.
Across an era
When the game's cast of voters changes (see Era shifting), each voter's stored recognition and favourability passes to their successor in the new cast, so public opinion of the player does not reset or jump in the month the change happens. Where a voter has no direct successor, the game instead preserves the overall level of support in that state and spreads it across the new cast.