The Game Mechanics section of the manual details the internal formula used in the game's calculations. This section of the manual uses pseudo-code and may not be 100% the same as the code in the game.

The Game Mechanics part of the manual is mainly designed to be a reference for the frequently asked question, “Why do I get this rating when I do X, Y, Z?!” Usually, this answer involves many different variables, which this section of the manual demonstrates.

The game mechanics section of the manual shows how the sausage gets made. So you really may want to avoid this portion of the manual if you enjoy the game.

cityAdjustment = 100.0/totalNumberOfCitiesOrTerritories;
 
maximumLobbyingBudget = 25000;
 
lobbySize = (1 + (2 * Number Of Factories) + ( 0.5 * Number of Branches);
 
if(year < 2020)
{
    maximumLobbyingBudget = 25000 * lobbySize * ex_1d045p_year99 * cityAdjustment;
}
else
{
    maximumLobbyingBudget = 25000 * lobbySize * 205.62274 * cityAdjustment;
}

if(Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget < Lobbying_Budget * 0.05)
    Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget = Lobbying_Budget * 0.05;
 
if (Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget < Lobbying_Budget)
    Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget = Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget * 1.10 + 10;
 
if (Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget > Lobbying_Budget)
    Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget = Lobbying_Budget;
 
Lobbying_Effectiveness = Lobbying_Effectiveness_Budget / maximumLobbyingBudget;