Official Program from the Republic of Antaros
Antaros Similarity Index
What is the Antaros Similarity Index?
The Antaros Similarity Index (ASI) is an initiative set up by the Antaran government, currently led by President Joseph Gordons and his left-wing federal party. The index gives an initial impression about countries likely or not likely to harbor similar ideals as Antaros. This index is overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Despite what the name might suggest, the ASI actually estimates a country's divergence from Antaran standards. This means that the greater the score received by a country, the more different (in general) it is from Antaros (in how it runs government, how its society fundamentally operates, etc.). Therefore, it may be possible that a near-utopian country diverges from Antaran standards as much as a totalitarian country, depending on the circumstances involved.
As Antaros is a peaceful country, the ASI helps identify countries where standards are substantially different from what are seen in Antaros. Therefore, it helps the Antaran government by narrowing down the list of countries that may require more diplomatic dialogue or greater bilateral cooperation - or perhaps may be a suitable target for cultural exchange programs.
How does the ASI work?
ASI scores are calculated to two decimal places with the help of a questionnaire provided below. There are five themes (Governmental, Sociocultural, Economic, Environmental and DIplomatic) with five questions each, and all 25 questions involve giving an answer using a scale of 0 to 10. 0 represents some minimum while 10 represents some maximum. For example, one of the questions ask about the independence of the judiciary, so 0 means that it is completely under your government's control and 10 means it is a completely-independent branch of the government.
Once the questionnaire has been filled out, the responses would be compared against the standards observed or upheld in Antaros. Then a formula
As an example, Antaros or a perfect Antaran replicate would have a score of 0.00. The United States of America would have a score of 19.09 and North Korea would have a score of 342.78. Due to the sophistication of the formula, the calculated values may be rounded up or down to give the final values seen just earlier.
Why can a dictatorship be more similar to Antaros than a presidential republic?
Antaros is indeed a presidential republic, but it doesn't mean that it is inherently similar to other presidential republics. The questionnaire involves multiple fields and thus involves multiple ways in which a country may have standards or conditions similar to those in Antaros.
A dictatorship may differ significantly from Antaros because of how its government is run, but it could be compared to Antaros in other ways, such as having good environmental policies, reasonably-high taxes and decent economic opportunities for various people. Conversely, a presidential republic could be very peculiar if, for example, it is very aggressive (i.e. not very diplomatic) and its society doesn't take foreigners very kindly. Basically, different factors can affect how similar to/different from Antaros a country is, regardless of its government or ruling group.
But I don't like my score!
Unfortunately, there are constraints in the ASI, which requires that your country's standards and values be compared and contrasted with what is true or observed in Antaros. The ASI also requires the use of the sophisticated formula which also has its own limits. In addition, the ASI's questions are concerned with general details about your country, and does not really go into too much depth about a particular field.
If the score is not desirable, don't worry too much about it. It is NOT meant to prove that your country has great living standards/human rights records or otherwise, but rather indicate how different your country is compared to another country (in this case, Antaros). The ASI is more or less an tool that assigns arbitrary values and maps out, in some way, how varied countries can be in this great realm.
Additional Notes
- Decimal values (e.g. 6.5) are permitted, but avoid giving overly-specific values (e.g. it's better to give 6.25 than to give 6.2495; besides, it's easier to round it up, isn't it?). If overly-specific values are given for a question, I will simply round them up or down depending on whichever is more appropriate.
- In the event that a numerical answer is not or cannot be given to a question, an arbitrary value of 5 will be assigned for that question.
- If a range of values is given (e.g. 2-5) for a question, I will use an arbitrary value by finding the average (in this case, 3.5).
- If multiple values are given for a question but not enough specification is given, I will arbitrarily decide which value to use.
Fill out the questionnaire below and I'll give you an idea about how different from Antaros your country is.
Questionnaire
- Code: Select all
[spoiler=Questionnaire][b]Nation Name:[/b]
[b]Government Type:[/b]
[b][u]GOVERNMENTAL[/u][/b]
On a scale of 0-10, how much say do your people have in your country's government?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much more political rights does the dominant group have compared to other minorities?:
On a scale of 0-10, how well-treated are political opposition groups in your country?:
On a scale of 0-10, how independent is the judiciary in your country?:
On a scale of 0-10, how fair are political processes in your country in general? (e.g. how often do they occur without political corruption?):
[b][u]SOCIOCULTURAL[/u][/b]
On a scale of 0-10, how well are foreign cultures or minorities tolerated/accepted by your country's society?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much does your country's culture uphold religious and/or moral values? (i.e. your country's dominant religious/moral values):
On a scale of 0-10, how harshly does your country's society respond to crime in general?:
On a scale of 0-10, how emphasized is individualism in your country's culture?:
On a scale of 0-10, how equally-available are educational opportunities in your country? (e.g. consider opportunities for the dominant group and opportunities for minorities):
[b][u]ECONOMIC[/u][/b]
On a scale of 0-10, how extensive is your country's welfare system or social safety net?:
On a scale of 0-10, how difficult is it to climb the socioeconomic ladder in your country?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much taxes, tariffs and/or duties does your country impose:?
On a scale of 0-10, how protected are the workers and employees in your country?:
On a scale of 0-10, how equally-available are economic opportunities in your country? (e.g. consider if two candidates of the same ability but different sociocultural backgrounds have equal chances of obtaining the same job):
[b][u]ENVIRONMENTAL[/u][/b]
On a scale of 0-10, how committed are your country's citizens to protecting the national environment?:
On a scale of 0-10, how reliant is your country on fossil fuels?:
On a scale of 0-10, how well-balanced are environmental priorities and economic priorities?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much of a national threat is climate change as perceived by your government and/or citizens?:
On a scale of 0-10, how interested are your country's citizens in resource management (e.g. water conservation, pollution reduction)?:
[b][u]DIPLOMATIC[/u][/b]
On a scale of 0-10, how interventionist is your country's government?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much of its foreign policy does your country's government base on human rights? (e.g. does your country extensively look into another's human rights records when conducting diplomacy?):
On a scale of 0-10, how prepared is your country to use military force for purposes other than national defense or peacekeeping operations?:
On a scale of 0-10, how well does your country's government abide by international conventions?:
On a scale of 0-10, how much diplomatic measures would your country's government generally undertake before it resorts to military action? (10 would mean total pacifism or complete attempt to exhaust all possible non-military options):[/spoiler]
