Federations & Empires Expansion adds new playable government forms to Galactic Civilizations IV. Each government has a dedicated governance screen with unique mechanics — not stat variations on the same template, but different systems that change how you interact with your civilization each turn. Each government is unlocked by its own culture tree trait, and each one has its own unique "hero" ship.

There are 4 Governments:

Federation

The Federation is a democratic Government driven by Approval, partisan politics, and Consensus.

• Gain an advantage in growing your space armada with bonus Logistics, Ship Range, and Influence.

• Unlocked in the Egalitarianism Culture tree

• Promote Core Worlds into Member Worlds by appointing a Governor as President.

• Member Worlds passively generate Consensus.

• Send Envoys to Member Worlds to instantly generate more Consensus and trigger Envoy Events.

• Enhance Member Worlds by spending Consensus to enact Accords.

• Pass periodic Senate Bills to shape your civilization and shift Party Favor.

• Maintain control and earn powerful bonuses through periodic Elections.

• Keep the parties favorable and the people approving, and the presidency stays yours.

• The Vanguard is a diplomatic flagship with the ability to deploy immobile "Relay Buoys" that reveal the fog of war and spread Influence to nearby planets. The Vanguard also boosts the Influence of nearby colonies and increases the Beam Attack and Shields for all ships in its fleet.

Empire

The Empire rules through subjugated Vassal Worlds, extracting their output to empower your Homeworld.

• Build stronger armies more quickly with bonuses to Manufacturing, Ship Range and Health.

• Unlocked in the Totalitarianism Culture tree

• Promote Core Worlds into self-governing Vassal Worlds.

• Vassals boost Manufacturing and Income and generate Authority, your unique resource.

• Spend Authority on Decrees that skim Vassal output to your Homeworld.

• Station Enforcer ships to bolster Authority, and appoint an Imperial Court for its Court Orders.

• A vassal with low Loyalty can rebel while you are overextended on Authority.

• "Dominator" The Empire's unique Hero Ship, the Dominator, is a large battleship with the ability to deploy immobile "Dominator Mines" that have powerful beam weapons capable of striking nearby enemies. The Dominator also has a high Conquest rating and decreases the Planetary Defenses of nearby colonies.

Oligarchy

The Oligarchy is a Government that expands through corporate Holdings and Investments.

• Establish extremely profitable trade routes with bonuses to Ship Range, Trade Value, and Income.

• Unlocked in the Individualism Culture tree

• Send Prospectors to claim unowned planets as Holding Worlds, which generate Collateral by Planet Quality.

• Allocate Collateral to buy Investments that mature over time; sell them for Credits or keep them to unlock Executive Orders.

• Fill a large Leader Council whose seats boost Collateral and Investment returns.

• Build Corp Ships to establish Corp Links, trade routes that share Research, Influence, or Manufacturing.

• "Invisible Hand" A hero ship capable of autonomously converting nearby dead worlds into valuable Holding Worlds, increasing the total Collateral for the Oligarchy. Unlike the instant, single-use Prospector ships, the Invisible Hand will continue to accumulate Collateral as long as it's available.

Technocracy

The Technocracy is a Government that rules through Compute, a unique resource generated by Computing Centers.

• Push the limits of science and technology with bonuses to Ship Range, Research, and Income.

• Unlocked in the Progressivism Culture tree

• Build Computing Centers to increase your Compute Potential.

• Dedicate Income to Compute generation.

• Accumulated Compute unlocks Optimizations which are placed in The Optimization Matrix. Fill the Matrix to maximize bonuses.

• The Optimization Matrix provides stacking bonuses through Optimizers and directly to your Core Worlds.

• Commit Leaders to The Singularity toadvance toward bringing the God Machine Online.

• "Potential" is a versatile hero flagship with a couple of special abilities. "Hack" is an active ability that allows the ship to temporarily cripple an enemy ship by reducing its Moves. "Deep Think" puts the Potential to sleep while increasing total Compute by 25%. In addition, the Potential grants increased Missile Attack to ships in its fleet and increased Evasion to all nearby ships.