Sid Meier's Civilization V/Social Policies

Social policies replace the civics or government systems found in previous installments. They cost culture to adopt, and each contribute to getting a Cultural Victory, as completing five social policy branches are required to build the Utopia Project, the condition to get a Cultural Victory. However, the cost of each social policy increases by 30% with every city you build or annex. Each social policy consists of an opener, five sub-policies and a finisher. The opener and the sub-policies must be obtained seperately, while the effects of the finisher is automatically granted once all of the sub-policies of a certain social policy are adopted.

Certain social policies cannot be active at the same time, for example Piety and Rasionalism. Changing between these policies will make you enter a turn of anarchy, where you gain no gold, science or production. You can switch back any time for no culture cost, but it will cost more turns of anarchy.

Tradition
Tradition is the adherence to the rules and decisions laid by earlier generations. Tradition is a great policy for civilizations of any size, but it is especially good for small empires aiming for a few, well-built cities. The opener cuts the culture cost of acquiring tiles significantly, helping you exapnd and obtain more land.
 * Available from: Ancient Era
 * Opener: +3 culture in capital city and increased border expansion.
 * Finisher: +15% food growth and +2 food in each city (+2 food is replaced with an Aqueduct in the first four cities in G&K).

The growth bonus from the finisher stacks with other growth bonuses, including Landed Elite, giving you a nice boost to your population growth. The free Aqueducts will boost your growth further, as well as saving some production or gold to be used for other buildings.

Aristocracy
Aristocracy is a government system where the elite members of the society rule the country. The wonder production boost is dependant on whether you will be building a bunch of wonders, but it is quite significant and stacks with other production-boosting buildings. The happiness boost helps you maintain a high population city and reduce the unhappiness that usually results from it.
 * +15% production when building wonders and +1 happiness for every 10 citizens in your city.

Legalism

 * Provides a free culture building in your first 4 cities.

Oligarchy

 * No maintainance cost for garrisoned units, cities with a garrison gain +50% combat strength.

Landed Elite

 * Prerequsites: Legalism
 * +10% food growth and +2 food in the capital city.

Monarchy

 * Prerequisites: Legalism
 * +1 gold and -1 unhappiness for every 2 citizens in the capital.

Liberty

 * Available from: Ancient Era
 * Opener: +1 culture in each city.
 * Finisher: Free Great Person of your choice appears near city.

Collective Rule

 * Prerequisites: Republic (G&K)
 * Settlers produced 50% faster, free settler appears near capital.

Citizenship

 * Construction of improvements increased by 25%, worker appears near capital.

Republic

 * Prerequisites: Collective Rule
 * +1 production in each city and +5% production in cities when constructing buildings.

Representation

 * Prerequisites: Citizenship
 * The increase in culture cost of social policies from newly founded cities reduced by 33%, starts a Golden Age when adopted.

Meritocracy

 * Prerequisites: Citizenship
 * +1 happiness for each city connected to the capital through trade routes, -5% happiness from citizens in non-occupied cities.

Honor

 * Available from: Ancient Era
 * Opener: +25% (+33% in G&K) combat strength against barbarians, get notified about new barbarian encampments discovered within the Fog of War. Defeating barbarians grant culture to the empire.
 * Finisher: Grants gold for each enemy unit killed.

Warrior Code

 * +15% production when training melee units, Great General appears near capital.

Discipline

 * +10% combat strength for military units when another friendly military unit in an adjacent tile.

Military Tradition

 * Prerequisites: Warrior Code
 * Military units gain 50% more experience.

Military Caste

 * Prerequisites: Discipline
 * Each city with a garrison increases empire happiness by 1 and culture by 2.

Professional Army

 * Prerequisites: Military Caste
 * Gold cost for unit upgrades reduced by 33%, +1 happiness from every defensive building (Walls, Castle, Arsenal, Military Base).

Piety

 * Available from: Classical Era
 * Opener: Reduces time to build culture-granting buildings (In G&K, reduces time to build Shrines and Temples).
 * Finisher: Reduces cost of future social policies by 10% (In G&K, reduces faith cost of religious units by 20% while faith buildings and Holy Sites provide 3 gold and 3 culture).
 * Conflicts with: Rasionalism

Organized Religion

 * +1 happiness for every Monument, Temple and Monastery (In G&K, +1 faith from Shrines and Temples).

Mandate of Heaven

 * 50% of excess happiness from each turn added into culture total for getting social policies.

Theocracy

 * Prerequisites: Organized Religion
 * Temples increase a city's gold output by 10%

Reformation

 * Prerequisites: Organized Religion
 * 33% increase in culture for cities with a World Wonder, also starts a Golden Age.

Religious Tolerance

 * Prerequisites: Reformation, Mandate of Heaven
 * +1 culture for every Monument, Temple and Monastery, also grants one free social policy (In G&K, Reduces cost of future policies by 10%).

Patronage

 * Available from: Medieval Era
 * Opener: City-State influence degrades 25% slower.
 * Finisher: Causes City-State influences of other civilizations to degrade 33% faster.

Philanthropy

 * Gold gifts to City-States provide 25% more influence.

Aesthetics

 * Minimum influence for to all City-States increased to 20.

Scholasticism

 * Prerequisites: Philanthropy
 * Allied City-States provide a science bonus equal to 25% of what they generate for themselves.

Cultural Diplomacy

 * Prerequisites: Scholasticism
 * Quantity of resources gifted from City-States increased by 100%. Happiness from gifted luxury resources increased by 50%.

Educated Elite

 * Prerequisites: Scholasticism, Aesthetics
 * City-States will occasionally gift you Great Persons.

Commerce

 * Available from: Medieval Era
 * Opener: Boosts gold output in capital by 25%
 * Finisher: +1 gold from every specialist (In G&K, +1 gold from every Trading Post and doubled gold from Great Merchant trading missions. May also purchase Great Merchants with faith).

Naval Tradition

 * +1 movement for all naval units and +1 sight for naval combat units (In G&K, also grants +2 movement for Great Admirals and creates a Great Admiral near the capital).

Trade Unions

 * Road and railroad maintainance cost reduced by 33%, Harbors and Seaports grant +1 gold.

Merchant Navy

 * Prerequisites: Naval Tradition
 * +3 production in coastal cities

Mercantilism

 * Prerequisites: Trade Unions
 * Cost for purchasing items in cities reduced by 33%. (In G&K, also grants 1 science for every Mint, Market, Bank and Stock Exchange).

Protectionism

 * Prerequisites: Mercantilism
 * +1 happiness from each luxury resourse.

Rationalism

 * Available from: Renaissance Era
 * Opener: +50% science granted by Research Agreements. (In G&K, +15% science output when empire has positive happiness).
 * Finisher: +1 gold from science buildings. (In G&K, grants 2 free technologies)
 * Conflicts with: Piety

Secularism

 * +2 science from every specialist.

Humanism

 * +1 happiness from every University, Observatory and Public School.

Free Thought

 * Prerequisites: Secularism
 * +1 science from Trading Posts, +17% science from Universities.

Sovereignty

 * Prerequisites: Humanism
 * +15% science when empire has positive happiness. (In G&K, +1 gold from science buildings).

Scientific Revolution

 * Prerequisites: Free Thought
 * 2 free technologies. (In G&K, +50% science granted by Research Agreements).

Freedom

 * Available from: Industrial Era
 * Opener: Great People spawn rate increased by 25%.
 * Finisher: Increases the yiled from Great Tile Improvements by 100% and increses the length of Golden Ages by 50%.
 * Conflicts with: Autocracy and Order

Constitution

 * +2 culture from each World Wonder.

Universal Suffrage

 * Combat strength of cities increased by 33%.

Civil Society

 * Specialists consume half the normal amount of food.

Free Speech

 * Prerequisites: Constitution
 * 8 units are maintainance free.

Democracy

 * Prerequisites: Civil Society
 * Specialists produce half the normal amount of unhappiness.

Autocracy

 * Available from: Industrial Era
 * Opener: Reduces gold maintainance for military units by 33%. (In G&K, also receive 10 culture for every point of culture a city produces when capturing that city).
 * Finisher: Grants a 20% attack bonus to all military units for 30 turns (25% attack bonus for 50 turns in G&K).
 * Conflicts with: Freedom and Order

Populism

 * Wounded military units do 25% more damage.

Militarism

 * Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.

Facism

 * Prerequisites: Populism and Militarism
 * Quantity of strategic resources in empire increased by 100%. (In G&K, also grants +2 movement for all Great Generals).

Police State

 * Prerequisites: Militarism
 * +3 happiness from every Courthouse, build Courthouses in half the normal time. (In G&K, effectiveness of enemy spies reduced by 25% and 25% increased chance of catching enemy spies for your counter-spies).

Total War

 * Prerequisites: Facism and Police State
 * +15% production (25% in G&K) when building military units, new military units start with 15 experience.

Order

 * Available from: Industrial Era
 * Opener: +1 happiness for each city
 * Finisher: +1 food, production, science, gold and culture for each city (+2 in G&K).
 * Conflicts with: Freedom and Autocracy

United Front

 * Militaristic City-States grant units twice as often when at war with a common foe.

Planned Economy

 * Factories increase science output by 25%. (In G&K, also halves the building time for Factories).

Nationalism

 * 25% bonus (+15% in G&K) when fighting in friendly territory.

Socialism

 * Prerequisites: Planned Economy
 * Maintainance cost of buildings reduced by 15%

Communism

 * Prerequisites: Socialism
 * +2 production per city and +10% production when constructing buildings. (In G&K, the +10% production bonus is replaced with +1 Production for every Mine and Quarry).