Democracy

The Good
The game is easy to jump right into, and gives some insight into the kind of statistics and policies that politicians look at and weigh. Also, the developer is quite active on the game, so it continues to get better. The forum has some interesting political discussions on it, and if you don't like the basic assumptions in the game, you can easily mod it to suit you better. Do tight gun laws raise or lower crime? Would religious school subsidies raise or lower literacy levels? These questions are raised by the game, and the formula to determine the answers is adjustable. Lastly, you can set up your "ideal society" and see how ideal it actually works.

The Bad
Although initial difficulties are almost unavoidable, there's a point where one can continue to be re-elected just by maintaining consistent policies. There are also some minor grammatical errors, and the starting policies of non-UK countries aren't perfectly accurate. These problems are fairly small ones, really, since development is on-going.

The Bottom Line
This is a great game and educational tool, which of the two it is depends on how you look at it. It can be like a nation-simulation game if you act just to appeal to your own constituents and improve your nation's statistics. Better still, though, if you look at the policies with a critical eye and question them. Sometimes the old assumptions aren't necessary at all. Sometimes the policies targetted by others as massive expenses are comparatively small things. And sometimes, policies trumpetted as "good" are just cynical attempts to reach out to constituents, with minimal societal improvements...