Basics of how pop promotion annoyingly works in this game

[WhatWillTheNextDowndateBring?]

So thoughout my many play thoughs of this game, I noticed how I'd keep getting bureaucrats well past what's needed for max admin efficiency even when not funding them at all, though I remember it not happening until mid to late game as early game would see me slowly lose them if at 30% admin spending. However that wasn't the case in a game I started yesterday where I was still having around 0.07% of my population become them per year at 30% spending right from the start in 1836, why?

Well for starters, nothing stops pops from promoting into bureaucrats, well, except for two things that barely make a difference. Those two things are if the pop isn't of the primary or an accepted culture, in which case they're not meant to be able to become bureaucrats at all... and a negitive 2% promotion rate, so basically nothing, if "crisis state bureaucrats is at least 0.2%", whatever that means. I think it means if it's a state that has multiple cores, a.k.a., like the balkans, there's less insentive to become a bureaucrat there since the other claimment may take the state at anytime.

So escentually, there's nothing stopping pops becoming bureaucrats and this is all as true for farmers as it is clergy becoming them, but plenty making pops become them which is why the number of them always spirals out of control. Initually, for most nations anyway, you're only going to get bureaucrats based on how much you pay them (2% per 10% spending) and 0.2% if their literacy is above 40%, but then, social reforms... each level gives 4% growth for each one, 4% no matter if you pay them or not, insane, I freaking called it Hypocrite42!!! Um, I forgot to cough... didn't I?

But why still growth at 30% spending at the start of the game yesterday, but not usually? Well because usually I have education and (if I can still afford to) military maxxed out after getting all the bureaucrats I want and that means there's still more bureaucrats changing to clergy or officers due to their high pay than pops becoming bureaucrats at 30%. However I didn't have military and education maxxed out yesterday, I was playing as a nation in a sphere and needed to cut spending on education and military as taxes alone just can't cover them and mlitary stockpile while at war which I was at the time.

Also another thing, bureaucrats are the only ones where the amount you pay them is exactly what you get, meanwhile military and education is by every over 10%, meaning sadly, if you have it as 50%, you only get the bonus for over 40% spending, sucks eh? I remember someone saying somewhere that peak solider growth is at 91%, that's why, because since you can't go to 101% spending, the max bonus is for over 90% spending and therefore there's no difference between 91% and 100%, ugh...

[Lembley42]

Seems like Bureaucrats also work by step of 10.
Just tried it out, cannot confirm your statement.

With social reforms you seem to be right. Without giving too many (just Healthcare / School system) it should still be fine it seems to me, but late game that isn't an option of course.
So, yeah, late game bureaucrats are bit overblowing, up to ~4% where they seem to stop due to a -138% modifier.

Before social reforms you get 0% promotion though with limited funding, as soon as it builds up to 1% (as the more there are already, the less chance there is for new promotions).

Stupid system, I agree.

Seems though just modding out the growth by passed social reform should do it.
It looks like something meant to assist the player (so they grow more as demand grows), but it actually ♥♥♥♥♥ the player up a bit.

[WhatWillTheNextDowndateBring?]

Well when I had admin at 30% in my testing, it said I was getting +6% due to 29.9... whatever % and it seemed to follow where ever I set the slider unlike the others. I do agree that I've seen them stop at around 4% as well, not sure why, seems you might have. Again at 30% in 1836, conversion rate to bureaucrats from farmers, labours, clergy and artisans was all at 4.2% due to the 0.2% for above 40% literacy, 6% for 30% spending and somehow -2% from the crisis state thing, so perhaps I was wrong about the multicore thing being what triggers that.

[Hat8]

Shrinking big government is hard? Sounds about right.