Civilization Revolution/Governments

Each civilization will possess one of several Government type that provides global modifiers across all of their units and/or cities. The default starting government is a Despotism, although several civilizations begin with another more advanced government as a result of a civilization bonus. Governments may be changed at any time so long as the required technology has been researched. However, changing governments will cause a turn of Anarchy, during which all outputs of all cities are reduced to zero. India and Japan are exempt from the anarchy penalty, although Japan only obtains anarchy immunity past the Industrial Age.

Tips and Guidelines
The following tips are general guidelines that apply to most Civilizations


 * Most Civs start off in a bonus-less Despotism. It is almost always a good idea to switch to another Government to exploit their bonuses.


 * A Republic is very useful for expanding efficiently in the early game, as every point of Population counts. However, unless you are actually building Settlers, a Republic is no more useful than a Despotism. A Republic also loses its effectiveness in the mid to late game due to the larger city sizes. If you find yourself not building Settlers, or the game has progressed into larger cities, switch out Governments.


 * In the mid game, a Monarchy is the 'neutral' Government, presenting no disadvantages and providing enough of a Culture boost to keep your Cities safe from Culture Flipping (for a while). However, in order to get an edge over your opponents, one of the other more advanced Government types is recommended.


 * Fundamentalism is an extremely powerful tool for an early aggressive playstyle. By keeping your opponents defensive you can establish map control. However in order to maximize its effectiveness, your cities should be geared for producing combat units. This reduces your science output; coupled with the nullification of libraries, this means that researching techs will be a very slow process for you. To compensate for this, aim to conquer cities (not just wandering units) to provide you with (1) an expansion, (2) possible technology and (3) looted gold.
 * Be sure to know when to switch out of a Fundamentalism, as you can be left behind in the technology race. However effective that +1 attack was for your Horseman Army back then, it will mean nothing when Cannons and Riflemen come marching on your cities to wake up your handful of Archers.


 * A Democracy is the default choice for most developing empires, as it does not hamstring the operation of your Civ in any way and provides a hefty Trade (Gold and Science) bonus. This Government is a suitable choice from its discovery right to the end of the game, especially for any non-domination victory (Culture, Economic, or Scientific). Should you find the need to declare war, you can either provoke the other Civ, or switch out Governments.


 * A Communism is a form of end-game successor to Fundamentalism, in the sense that it is especially useful for aggressive playstyles. Switching to Communism and then instantly building Factories will drastically increase the productivity of your cities. If you are able to pay to rush at least part of the Factories, it is often worth it. At this late stage, it is common to be able to build units in one or two turns from most cities, and even multiples of units from your larger cities. This usually allows steady production of units such as Artillery supported by Modern Infantry and Spies. It can be difficult for a defending Civ to ward off such an onslaught without switching into heavy production to match. This will severely hamper attempts at technological or economic victories.
 * As science is the pitfall to Fundamentalism, Culture is to a Communism. Apart from having no hope in attracting Great People in a Communism, the lack of Temples and Cathedrals makes your cities especially vulnerable to Culture Flipping. To combat this, it is a good idea to build Walls in all of your cities before switching out. If you take your time building them after you switch, it is likely that one or more of your cities will be flipped. Also note that the Hollywood wonder hard counters Communism.