I'm pretty sure the political system is bugged to all hell. I've given up trying to control it.

-The Survey is never right

-Political actions never do a damn thing. (From my experience.

-Actual representations don't seem to show accurately.

-What is done actively in your empire seems to do very little sway. (Militarists lost to industrialists when all I've been doing is war.)

I either don't have a clear understanding of how the political game works, the game is not accurately describe WHAT is influencing the political game, or values that influence the political game are all over the place.

In terms of concept. I LOVE the idea. I love the 'Laws' and them tied to the political party in power and the fluctuation of power. But as far as I can tell, there is no reasonable way to control/influence what political party is in power, and this can be a problem. Especially for the Cravers since they suffer a hefty moral penalty when parties don't get 'elected' in their political system. Especially since Industrialists tend to split down the middle with the militarists guaranteeing  a -30 approval rating. 

I started a new game and at the time of the elections I had 3 systems. 

Homeworld: 1 Sophon, 2 Haroshem 43% for the Scientific Party

System 1: 1 Sophon 100% for the Scientific Party

System 2: 1 Sophon 100% for the Scientific Party

Pacifists won...

BTW the above were the results the moment after the elections.

Just started my second game as Sophons and ran into the same problem. Pacifists take over in the very first election when all info points to scientists winning. This is really annoying because it turns over the law that allows researching Era 2 techs which is kind of the point of playing Sophons.