The game is simple; it's politics. You are a lawmaker in this brand new state. Make laws and convince the other players to pass your laws. It doesn't matter how you feel about the law, just make sure it passes.
On each player’s turn, they’ll propose a law by combining an “Issue” card and a “Law” card. The group can vote on this combination as-is, or another player (or several players) can propose an “Exception” card to be combined with these two cards.
As a group you all vote for the best combination and whether it includes an Exception, or if it’s the original two card combination on its own. When a new law is passed, the proposing player keeps their “Issue” card as a win token, and if an Exception was passed with the law, the player that played the Exception card keeps their “Exception” card as a win token as well. The “Law” card is put back to the bottom of the deck to be reused if needed.
The “Law” and “Exception” cards each count as a single point. At the end of the game, whoever has the most points wins.