Motive micropatriology
Motive micropatriology is a proposed, not-yet-widely-accepted replacement for classical micropatriology (the words "simulationism" and "secessionism"). In motive micropatriology, micronations are weakly or strongly ludic or narrative, and weakly or strongly hobby or achievement. This can be represented on a two-dimensional chart similar to The Political Compass. It was first suggested by Ives Blackwood, and so far only Blackwood has supported it, but he has stressed that he regards his own work as a starting point and wants "other voices" to be involved.
The ludic vs narrative spectrum measures the motive behind the day to day activity of a micronation. In a ludic micronation, the participants are genuinely invested in the issues at stake, like players in a game, and they do what will best achieve their immediate goals, regardless of whether or not this is how a real country works. For instance, in a ludic election campaign, the candidates will run their campaign to win as many votes as possible given that they are operating in a micronation. In a narrative micronation, the participants are working together to create a coherent narrative, and aim to run the micronation as much like a real country as possible, even if this involves roleplaying (e.g. making posters for an election campaign despite knowing that everyone decided who to vote for as soon as the candidates were announced).
The hobby vs achievement spectrum measures the motive behind the practical goal of the micronation. The purpose of a hobby micronation is simply to be a micronation (this includes "seeking recognition" or "seeking independence"); success for a hobby micronation just means being "developed" or being a "good micronation". In contrast, an achievement micronation has a practical purpose that its success is measured against, such as being a political protest like the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands. How strongly a micronation is achievement is based on how much of its day to day activity is based on its practical end goal — for instance, though Liberland is also a political protest, it is a less strongly achievement micronation than the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom because Liberland spends more time on other micronational activities that do not relate to the protest.
History
Motive micropatriology was first proposed by Ives Blackwood, an Abeldane micropatriologist, on 3 March 2021 in a short paper called "Introducing motive micropatriology".
On 4 March, Gaius Soergel Publicola responded to Blackwood's paper in a Veritum Sandus article that praised the concept as a useful contribution to micropatriology and suggested it was similar to his own theory of Sandum Realism. Soergel characterised motive micropatriology as a continuation of Blackwood's earlier concept of New Secessionism, on the grounds that the new system assumes "that micronations are fictive, ephemeral, and fleeting", which is based in what Blackwood calls the 'emperor's new clothes' criticism of classical secessionism — the assumption that "micronations will likely never be recognised as macronations and actively striving for that goal is pointless" — which Blackwood said in 2019 was one of the two core building blocks of New Secessionism.
At Blackwood's request, on 6 March the Cupertino Alliance discussed the possibility of formally endorsing motive micropatriology and producing a series of videos to explain it.