> It means that it's possible for a Government to be fairly hands-off
> (especially if if maintains good productivity), without resorting to
> brainwashing the populace (counter-insurgency) ;) ,

I have found that, barring unforeseen circumstances, as long as you keep
your Productivity increases in-step with population increases (or other
Census importation) you really won't run into too many Morale problems.

In all of my campaigns, the worst culprits for Morale changes have been
enemies taking control of a system (target number 3, -3 Morale loss) or
random events. Sure, enemy forces (usually also controlled by me!) will
sometimes use Insurgency missions, but that is still fairly rare.

> Presumably if a government has full Productivity before an advance it
> will gain an extra +1 morale when Productivity catches up as well -
> which means good government is rewarded.

Yes, keeping the population fully-employed will make it easy to get the free
+1 Morale bonus the next time you increase Productivity.

> It might be reasonable to add something on the other end (perhaps a
> Morale 2 check if an extra census point is gained when census already
> = capacity for -1 morale) or something like that to cover overcrowding,

That is probably a less harsh solution to the Overpopulation rule from the
Campaign Moderator's Companion that requires a Morale check each turn that a
system is overpopulated (Census > Capacity). With that rule, the target
number for the Morale check is equal to Census - Capacity, so having 1 more
Census than Capacity would require a Morale [1] check each turn, lest you
incur a -1 Morale modifier.

BTW, writing Morale checks like that actually works good, Gareth! Good idea!
It makes it much easier to tell what the target number is in a more natural
manner than always appending the "with a target number of X" onto the end.

> By the bye, what restrictions do you normally place on productivity
> increases? Do you allow purchasing of productivity on the turn a
> system is colonised?

I don't allow Productivity increases to be purchased until a colony is put
in place, so you can't colonize a system and then instantly earn income on
the next turn. However, I do allow a colony to purchase Productivity
increases in anticipation of the arrival of future Census.

Connecting back with the Morale discussion, purchasing the Productivity
increases before the Census arrive also makes sure that on the turn that the
Census disembarks the colony should receive a +1 Morale bonus, too, as there
is enough Productivity there to be utilized by the new colonists, fully
employing them.

-Tyrel