New User Guide

Authorized and produced by the Department of Growth

Based on the “New User Guide” by
Former President Blanche Delarosa,
Former Vice President HmQuestionable
and Former Secretary of Expansion DEUSV

New² User Guide

Disclaimer: Although the Office of Integration of the Department of Growth makes every effort to ensure the guide is accurate, the guide is provided on an as is basis and should not replace professional advice. The guide was updated 8th November 2025.

Introduction to SimDemocracy

1.1 What is SimDemocracy?

SimDemocracy is an online community based on the principles of democratic moderation, fair and due process, and government simulation. We have three branches of government, a police service, diplomatic relations with many other polsims, and dozens of independent businesses that allow our citizens to find whatever niche they like most and find the fun however they want.

Unlike other political simulators, SimDemocracy is not a full roleplay server. Instead of roleplaying real-world political issues, we work to solve issues that we face in our servers and platforms. For example, real life governments may attempt to fix police brutality, and our simulated government would instead try to fix the abuses in the moderation system.

1.1.1 What is a PolSim?

A PolSim is a Political Simulator. Besides SimDemocracy, there are other PolSims with their own gimmicks, but they lack the polish and breadth of our glorious nation.

1.2 Where is SimDemocracy?

SimDemocracy has two Core Territories: the r/SimDemocracy subreddit and the Discord server. New users are recommended to have accounts in both places. Official votes, Calls for Candidates, polls, and more can be found on the Reddit page. While the community, memes, businesses, and most general activity are present on the discord server. Besides those, SimDemocracy has ‘colonies’ including the Minecraft Server, the NationStates Region, the Clash of Clans clan, etc.

The Discord and Reddit Supervisors and respective Territory Supervisors (including the owner of the Minecraft server) are able to take action to preserve the democratic order of SimDemocracy.

1.3 How is SimDemocracy?

The answer to this question depends on you. You can be an attorney to be involved in the legal and judicial system, you can work in one of the numerous government departments, you can run or join a business, you can create a community and talk about your favorite topics, or you can become a politician and run in elections. Join the discord, have a look around, and see what things interest you. No matter what you are into you will find a place for it, and if not, you can start your legend by creating something new.

2. The Government

2.1 Overview of Government Structure

The government of SimDemocracy is divided into three branches based on the principle of separation of powers. The Senate (which has a single house) is the legislature responsible for proposing, debating on, and passing bills into laws. The Executive, led by the president, is responsible for being the head administrator of the government departments. The president has the ability to veto bills to prevent them from becoming laws, but there are ways for this veto to be overturned. The Judiciary is responsible for making sure that the other two branches are following the law and creating new laws that align with the current civil and criminal codes as well as the constitution. (If you are American this should sound very familiar to you).

2.2 The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch of SimDemocracy is led by the President, elected using the STAR electoral system. The President has the power to dismiss secretaries at their will, but to appoint them senate confirmation is needed. These secretaries are in charge of leading executive departments, each of them with their own powers, duties, and internal structure.

2.2.1 The SimDemocracy Armed Forces

The SimDemocracy Armed Forces (SDAF), led by the Chief of Armed Forces (CoAF), is responsible for our meme-warfare fighting machine and expanding democracy to non-democratic places.

2.2.2 The Department of Expansion

The Department of Expansion (DoEx), led by the Secretary of Expansion, is, contrary to its name, not responsible for the expansion of SimDemocracy. It is responsible for running events to promote activity and managing all the fun-related things.

2.2.3 The Department of Growth

The Department of Growth (DoG), led by the Secretary of Growth, is responsible for the advertisement, recruiting, and integration of new members for SimDemocracy.

2.2.4 The Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DoJ), led by the Attorney General, is responsible for all law enforcement activities within SimDemocracy jurisdiction. Within this department there are two agencies:

• The SimDemocracy Bureau of Investigation (SDBI), in charge of law enforcing and criminal investigation; and
• The State Attorney’s Office (SAO), in charge of representing the State in trials in which it is involved.

These agencies are led by their respective Directors, appointed by the Attorney General.

2.2.5 The Department of State

The Department of State (DoS), led by the Secretary of State, is responsible for foreign diplomacy with other PolSims.

2.2.6 The Department of Technology

The Department of Technology (DoTech), led by the Secretary of Technology, is responsible for maintaining the informatic aspects of the server, including the TauBot, which manages all tau accounts and transactions.

2.2.7 The Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury (DoT), led by the Secretary of the Treasury, is responsible for paying government employees, overseeing taxes (if any), and regulating financial institutions.

Note: The “if any” is included because the Senate sometimes introduces taxes, and later another Senate repeals it.

2.3 The Legislative Branch

Unlike the Executive or Judicial Branch, which are more complex, the Legislative is pretty simple. It is composed of a single house, the Senate, elected every two weeks with the TEA electoral system (which, ironically, is way more complicated than STAR used for the Presidential elections).

Senators can propose bills and vote on them, the bills may be written by the sponsor, but is also common to users outside the Senate to draft bills and ask a Senator to propose it, either by asking a Senator individually or by pinging the @Senator role.

The Senate also has the power to impeach government officials if they are not doing their job or if there is a case of abuse of power. If they impeach a Senator, Judge, Justice, or President, a referendum is needed.

2.4 The Judicial Branch

Unlike the Executive and Legislative Branches, which are elected, the Judicial Branch is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The Inferior Courts are composed of the Inferior Court (very original name), which is in charge of common trials, and the Court of Review, which reviews appeals and makes some legal interpretations.

The Supreme Court, composed of five Justices, is the final court of appeal, and is able to hear Judicial Reviews that interpret the laws and the Constitution. They also set binding legal precedent that lower courts must follow.

2.5 The Supervisors

Supervisors are in charge of owning the critical infrastructure of SimDemocracy, but they have little authority to act by themselves. They are chosen by the President, approved by a 2/3 majority of the Senate, and finally, confirmed by a 2/3 majority in a public referendum.

2.5.1 The Reddit Supervisor

The Reddit Supervisor is the Head Mod of the r/SimDemocracy subreddit. Certain positions are required to be moderators, and the Reddit Supervisor is in charge of overseeing and managing these permissions.

2.5.2 The Discord Supervisor

The Discord Supervisor is the Owner of the SimDemocracy Discord server. The Discord Supervisor manages roles, server settings, and common server management, all according to the law.

2.5.3 The Supervisor of Elections

(also known as Election(s) Supervisor)

The Supervisor of Elections is in charge of posting Call For Candidates, making the Voting forms and including all candidates and referendums on them, calculating election results, and posting the results of elections and referendums.

2.6 The Electoral System

SimDemocracy uses election systems you may not have heard of, to ensure proportional results. We use the STAR (score then automatic runoff) for Presidential elections and TEA (threshold equal approval) for senate elections. Both of these systems allow you to rank people from zero to 5, as opposed to the “traditional” one person, one vote (choose-one plurality).

2.7 How laws are passed

The body that passes laws in SimDemocracy is the Senate. Bills (law that hasn't been passed) are introduced to the Senate by being proposed by a Senator or by petition from the public. The Senate then votes on the bills and if a majority votes in their favour, the bills are sent to the President to sign. If the President instead vetoes, the Senate can choose to override the President with a 2/3 vote and enact the bill without the President's approval.

Constitutional amendments follow the same process except instead of being signed by the President, they are sent to a public referendum that needs 2/3 support to pass.

3. The Economy

3.1 The Currency

The currency of the server is tau (τ). Salaries are paid in tau, which can be used to purchase different government and private services. An example of a government service would be the creation of new channels, while an example of a private service would be legal assistance.

The Senate holds the power of the purse, and has to introduce the government budget every Presidential Term. The Senate is also able to authorize the printing of tau, which is done regularly. The distribution of tau is generally done by the treasury, in accordance with the budget.

3.2 The Tau-Zone

The Tau Zone is an international organization based on the IRL Euro-Zone, which allows its members to use SimDem’s currency, the tau (τ). The Central Bank of the Tau Zone is in charge of printing money for its member states.

4. How to Start

4.1 Interacting with people (100% impossible challenge)

SimDemocracy is, in its heart, a community. Talk with people, chat in Discord, comment and post on Reddit. Just don’t be toxic.

4.2 Getting a job

Check out the jobs-search-board to see which businesses and government agencies are hiring. Remember that as an unemployed person you have legally mandated preference over other candidates who are already employed. If you suspect discrimination, you might have the basis for a suit against that department.

Most jobs are in the executive departments of the government. However, some businesses also hire people. Usually, the hiring post details what to do and who to ask, however, if it doesn’t, you can always DM the poster of the thread or the head of the department.

Jobs are paid in tau. Government jobs are generally easier and a good place to start. Meanwhile, private jobs may require more specialized knowledge. Certain governmental jobs are also not posted within the job search board. For instance, the Office of Public Defenders hires Public Defenders through the bar.

4.3 Joining a community

Simdemmers can create and join communities, which are nonpolitical associations of people. Communities are based on different topics, such as catching balls in #ballsdex or shit-talking about our friend aerospace.

4.4 Starting a business

Got your banger idea for a new company? Great! Head over to #treasury-chat or #businesses-in-operation and fill out the forms. If you need help you can ping the Treasury Secretary. Please remember that requests are processed manually, by real humans. Some things take time and the government will work as fast as it can.

If you need money for your new business, the Treasury may also give out business grants if your business shows merit. Commercial banks, or the central bank (SDSB), can also give loans to individuals and businesses.

4.5 Running for public office

If you are prepared, if you know what you are doing, have good proposals, and after becoming active in SimDem by talking in the public chats and maybe even working in your job, you’re ready to run for office?

There are two offices available through democratic elections, the President and the Senate. Every two weeks, the Election Supervisor posts a Call for Candidates (CFC) in the subreddit. Everyone with a Reddit account can declare their candidacy if they follow proper format (the formatting rules are in the post description).

Remember that if you want to run under a party banner, you must first join that party. To join a party, contact its leader(s), since some parties have distinct membership approval systems.

5. SimDem’s Culture

5.1 Introduction

SimDemocracy has a six years-long history, and in those six years our community has adopted a lot of memes, phrases, and cultural elements. However, a big percentage of our culture comes from less than a year ago from a wave of immigration called the Danyowave.

5.2 Voices of Democracy

Voices of Democracy is the biggest rival of SimDemocracy. Some Simdemmers consider VoD as a failed, tyrannical state. However, most of the hate towards VoD is ironic, as VoD and SimDem are quite similar, at least compared to other PolSims.

Simdemmers sometimes use some ironic slurs to express their hate against VoD, using “vodder” or “voddite” to describe their population. Recently, some VoD citizens have begun reclaiming these terms, using them to describe themselves in a positive light.

5.3 Toast Dick

“Toast Dick” is a unique emoji of SimDemocracy from the Pre-Danyowave era. This emoji consists of the character of the veteran user known as “Toast”, a living toast, and his “dick” - a stick of bread. Toast Dick was so important to SimDem’s culture that it is a constitutional right for citizens to use the emoji and is therefore above any laws trying to prohibit it.

5.4 Hate towards the Senate

A running joke in SimDemocracy is that the Senate is stupid and “illiterate”, causing elected Senators to become unable to read the bills they vote on. It formed after allegations that some senators didn’t properly read the laws or arguments before voting on them and were responsible for making decisions that other branches of government consider to be stupid. Although the Senate is, in theory, the most important branch, it is considered by some people as less important, intelligent, capable, or experienced than the Executive and the Judiciary. Feel free to join in on the “hate pings” against senators, or other public ridicule, but keep it light hearted and stop if anyone feels uncomfortable.

6. Important Historical Events

6.1 The Jackie Crisis

The Jackie Crisis began when Jackie, the second Supervisor of SimDemocracy, held the people of SimDem hostage by refusing to hold elections or exercise her head mod powers on the SimDem subreddit. Despite the Senate invoking the newly created DATA Act, which established a method to impeach the Supervisor, Jackie’s control of the subreddit meant the democratic institutions of SimDem held no power over her. As Jackie refused to step down, the Senate declared open rebellion against her, weaponizing memes to turn the tides of public opinion.

After 18 hours, where the top 10 posts on Reddit were anti-Jackie memes, the government reached an agreement: Jackie would resign as Supervisor but retain the power to pick her successor. Her plan was to nominate troll replacements to delay the handover and maintain her power.

Realizing Jackie never intended to uphold her promise, the government planned to migrate to a new subreddit. However, due to Jackie’s use of auto-mod features on the subreddit, any mention of a migration or of the new subreddit would be flagged and deleted. SimDem High Command would use images and post only when Jackie wasn’t online to broadcast the message to as many citizens as possible.

The migration succeeded. All the active members of the subreddit would move to r/simrepublic, and Jackie would soon delete her account and surrender the role of Supervisor to the elected ClassicToast.

The Jackie crisis showed the people the weakness of consolidating power in the Supervisor. This would form the basis of the current Supervisor system, where power is split between the Reddit Supervisor, Discord Supervisor, and Supervisor of Elections, ensuring no one person can halt the operations of government.

6.2 The Wolf Nuke

Discord Supervisor ‘Wolf’ was a major contributor to SimDemocracy in 2022, pushing major reforms as President, organizing a charity fundraiser for the people of Pakistan after the flooding, and putting his all in SimDem, to the point of burning out. In 2022, during a stressful time in his personal life and while dealing with a user making unauthorized changes to the server, Wolf would snap. After trying unsuccessfully to push the courts to ban the culprit, Discord Supervisor Wolf would delete all text history and almost every channel in the discord server before resigning, in a terrible betrayal of the trust placed upon him.

6.3 The Danyowave

“Danyo” was the name by which the user “Trolligarch” is known in polsims, as he used to be a known polsimmer. Trolligarch also happened to be a YouTuber with over 70k followers whose investigative videos reach millions of views. After his video ‘When teenagers run virtual democracies’ was published, a massive influx of new members joined the PolSim community. The biggest beneficiary was SimDemocracy, receiving hundreds of new members. This event became known as “The Danyowave”.

7. Common Acronyms

7.1 Government Related Acronyms

Check this section to know more.

VP: Vice President
CoS: Chief of Staff
EO: Executive Order
DoS: Department of State
DoJ: Department of Justice
DoT: Department of Treasury
DoTech: Department of Technology
DoG: Department of Growth
DoEx: Department of Expansion
DoD: Department of Defense
SDAF: SimDemocracy Armed Forces
SDBI: SimDemocracy Bureau of Investigation (the police)
SBDI: SimBureau of Democracy Investigation (used for joke pings)
OHS: Office of Homeland Security
SDIOA: SimDemocracy Independent Oversight Agency
PHon: Presidential Medal of Honor
SHon: Senatorial Medal of Honor
EC: Electoral Commission
RC: Registry Commission

As explained earlier, every department, excluding the Department of Justice, has a secretary (the DoJ’s secretary is the Attorney General). This means that every departmental acronym can have their starting ‘D’ replaced with an ‘S’ to form their respective acronym. As an example, DoG (Department of Growth) would turn into SoG (Secretary of Growth).

Note: “SoEx” (Secretary of Expansion) is often jokingly shortened to “SEx”

7.2 Legal System Related Acronyms

AG: Attorney General
SAO: State Attorney’s Office
SA: State Attorney

SDBA: SimDemocracy Bar Association
BD: Bar Director
OPD: Office of Public Defenders
PD: Public Defender

SC: Supreme Court
CJ: Chief Justice
SCJ: Supreme Court Justice

CoR: Court of Review
Cj: Chief Judge

IC: Inferior Court(s)

CC: Criminal code/Civil code

7.3 Acronyms from other PolSims

VoD: Voices of Democracy
LoS: League of Servers (UN type PolSim organization)

7.4 Acronyms from non-governmental organizations

TIDE: Traditionalist Insurgency of Defense and Enforcement (terrorist group, probably formed by a bunch of stupid kids)

8. The Legal System

8.1 What makes up the legal system?

The SimDemocracy legal system is so big and complex that some people consider it as “the main mechanic of SimDem”. All the laws are based on the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, although the Terms of Service of each platform are above the Constitution. All the current (and some of the past) legislation can be found in the Archives. Previous court cases can also be found in the Case Law Index.

8.2 How to become an attorney

The SimDemocracy Bar Association (SDBA) decides who gets to become a lawyer. To represent others in SimDem courts, you need to become a member of the Bar Association.

You can become a member by passing the Bar exam, which is composed of both a theory test and a practical internship or mock trial.

8.3 How to take the Bar Exam

You can find the Bar exam in the pinned messages of #court-general, or by approaching the Bar Director. The exam consists of a theory section and a practical. If you have difficulties completing the exam, the Office of Legal Training has assistance programs available. Ask around in #court-general to find out more!

8.3 Do you need to pass the Bar Exam to practice law?

Yes. In order to represent others in a SimDemocracy court, you need to be a member of the Bar, and the only way to do that is to pass the Bar exam. However, you can represent yourself in court without any qualifications, including in the Supreme Court.

8.4 How to file a Police Report

The SimDemocracy Bureau of Investigation (SDBI) is our police. You can file a report with them by going to the #the-station channel and writing your complaint there. Alternatively, you can use this Google form to file your complaint, if you would like to ensure only police officers see it.

8.5 What do I do if I feel harassed, threatened, or attacked?

If you feel harassed, threatened, or attacked, you can file a report with the SDBI by following the above procedure, or in urgent cases pinging the @SDBI role. If the state fails or declines to take action, you are able to conduct a private prosecution with the Attorney General’s permission.

9. How To Touch Grass

9.1 Touch Grass Act

A common issue with Simdemmers is experiencing difficulty in having a life outside SimDemocracy. This is known as “SimAddiction”.

The Touch Grass Act allows people to obtain Self-Exclusion Orders from the SDBI (police). This may be carried out in the form of a ban or a mute for up to 4 months. While this order is in effect, most legal proceedings cannot commence against them and their obligations are put on pause.