Civ 5 World Congress Guide
Passing/Repealing Resolutions, Delegates by Era and WC Tips/Strategies
This Guide covers all World Congress Resolutions in Civ 5, Brave New World and Gods and Kings. Here, we'll learn about the evolution of the World Congress, individual Resolutions that may be enacted, and how you can help your own Proposals to pass or repeal those of other Civs. Manipulating the Congress is something any player can do, and we'll also learn how that is achieved.
Note that this Guide is distinct from my coverage of the Diplomatic Victory Condition and Diplomacy (Civ Politics, Positive/negative Diplomacy modifiers), though they are all useful together. This page is more focused on the individual Resolutions and using the WC to your benefit.
If you already know how to use the World Congress and secure votes, jump to the Resolutions List.
Founding the Congress and Being Host
The World Congress is founded when all Civs have been met and someone researches Printing Press. The Civ who first meets all others and has researched this Tech becomes the first Host. While Host, you are able to click to rename the World Congress at the top of the WC Screen - but it has no impact on gameplay. The Host always gets to make one Proposal and gets extra Delegates. This means being Host brings some power, allowing you to quickly pass the Resolutions you need. Once the World Congress becomes the United Nations, the Civ with the most Votes for World Leader will be considered Host.
If you will not be able to be elected Host, or do not care, you can elect another Civ Host and get a nice Diplomacy boost with them each time you do it. This can be very helpful if you have a potentially aggressive neighbor or want to cement a Friendship. Since new hosts will be elected as Civs go up in Era, you'll get another opportunity to play Host later.
From the Diplomatic Victory Guide: Delegates Through the Eras - World Congress to United Nations
Here is a list of the four stages of the World Congress, the final upon reaching the Atomic Era and the formation of the United Nations which automatically begins the World Leader Proposal every other session (so every 20 turns). The number of Delegates has nothing to do with Population. Era is the state 50% of Civs much reach, or that one must pass for the stats to take effect. Host is the total number of Delegates the host gets before other bonuses. City-State Ally bonuses are Delegates per City-State Ally, only one Civ at once can be an Ally of a CS and get these Delegates, though they can frequently change hands - either by completing City-State Quests, Coups (with a Spy), or simple Gold gifts. Conquered City-States' delegates are lost as they are no longer separate entities with their own representation. Turns is the number of turns between World Congress or U.N. sessions.
| Era | Host Delegates | Member Delegates | CS Ally Delegates | Turns |
| Renaissance | 2 | 1 | 0 | 30 |
| Industrial | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25 |
| Modern | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Atomic: United Nations | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
Making Proposals
The Host always gets to make a Proposal on a new session of the World Congress. The Civ with the highest delegate count other than the host will get to propose as well, making for two Proposals per session. When there is a tie, it favors Human players. It is not clear how the game decides ties otherwise. Advancing to the next Era will trigger a new vote for Host, but it will not hasten the next vote for a Resolution. After the next Proposal, there will be less time until the next vote.
When hovering over the available Resolutions, you will see how Civs will react to them. It always tells you if a Civ will be angered or pleased by your Proposal, else they are neutral about it. The Positive/Negative Diplomacy Modifier will last about 30 Turns and is quite powerful, enough to help with Declarations of Friendship or being the tipping point for War. Part of this game is avoiding War by not angering Civs too much by stacking up negative modifiers. Use Proposals wisely and you can avert War or make a new DoF for Research Agreements. Even if you don't want something passed, select something that will at least please someone to make your Proposal worthwhile. Safe choices are generally the World's Fair, International Games, and Space Station. You may also repeal something that has affected a Civ to help them.
Passing Proposals and Voting
Proposals will pass by simple majority vote - there is no need to allocate more Delegates than what will be needed to pass/deny the new Resolution. You can allocate all of your Delegates by right-clicking the Up/Down arrows to speed up the process. On the next turn, the vote is tallied and the Resolution will either Pass or Fail. If it Passes, it is made law and all Civs will obey it. There is no way to avoid the influence of the World Congress.
By hovering your mouse over a Resolution, you can see any knowledge of how votes will go. Some Civs' votes will be known, while you may have bought others. You can see how many Delegates a Civ has allocated toward yea/nay so that you do not use more of your own than necessary. If, when proposing, you saw that a Civ liked your Proposal, it's safe to assume they will vote yea. The inverse is also true.
When your Votes cause a Civ's Proposal to Pass or Fail in the World Congress, the Civ will react. If you vote Nay and it fails, they will be angered. If you vote Yea and it passes, they will be pleased. If you vote nay and it passes anyway, you won't get a negative. It is when your Vote is the tipping point for them that you get a reaction. Ultimately, this can help you to make friends or keep the peace. Very bad would be angering a Civ with your own proposal, then causing theirs to fail - you'll have both modifiers going at once, and it can certainly be the incident that causes a Denouncement or DoW as the modifiers are quite strong.
Repealing WC Proposals
If a Proposal that you don't like passes, such as Arts Funding when you are attempting a Scientific Victory, or a Luxury you use has been banned, you may wish to repeal it. Repealing is just like Proposing - it requires a majority vote to remove the enacted Resolution.
Accumulating Delegates (Votes)
Controlling many Delegates allows you to control the World Congress. You can determine with 100% certainty what will pass and what will fail by having enough Delegates and buying the votes of other Civs. Through Allying with Civs, City-States get a voice in the World Congress and United Nations. Therefore, being the Ally of many City-States is the best way to control a number of Delegates. Additionally, the Forbidden Palace Wonder will give +2 Delegates in the World Congress, as will following a World Religion or World Ideology if those Resolutions have been Enacted. Additionally, with the Globalization Tech, you can plant Spies as Diplomats (with Embassies) to gain +1 Delegate each. This can amount to up to six extra Votes. After each World Leader vote, the Civs in first and second place will gain +2 permanent Delegates, which may be repeated a number of times. If you continue being elected in first place, you will eventually have enough Delegates to win World Leader.
Getting Other Civs' Votes
If your Proposal is unpopular, or you're being tried to elect World Leader, getting these things to pass can be challenging if you don't have enough Votes to completely override other Civs. Use your Spies in Civs' Capitals (must have an Embassy) to make them a Diplomat. When they're set up after 6 or so turns, you will be able to negotiate for a portion of that Civ's delegates on the Trade Screen. You will get their base amount of Delegates by doing this (based on era, see table above), and they will vote exactly as promised when the time comes. You can view the upcoming Proposal to see how many Yea or Nay they have allocated for you. Do not expect a Civ that hated your Proposal to vote for it, and don't bother with those who like it - use the neutrals to secure more votes for the Proposal and ensure it passes. The same can be done for Nay Votes - blocking something like a differing World Ideology that you really don't want to see passed. You may only trade for votes with a Civ once per session.
World Congress Resolutions List
Strategies for Using Resolutions to your Benefit
The Following is a list of all Resolutions in alphabetical order. The few Resolutions that have a Tech requirement will be listed. When any Civ discovers that Tech, the Resolution will appear in the list in-game. All others are available as soon as the Congress is Founded. These Resolutions can be enacted as soon as you are able to propose and pass them.
Note about World Projects
The World's Fair, International Games, and International Space Station are all World Projects. When they are passed through the World Congress, the project becomes available at the bottom of each City's build queue. Contributing more leads to a higher reward. Each of these may be instated only once in a given game. Timing them so that your Cities are ready to produce as soon as they're enacted is key to winning first. The more you contribute, the faster they will be done and the more Civs you'll prevent from gaining prizes. You can hover over the project in a City's build queue to see the requirements for 2nd and 3rd place awards. First place always goes to the highest contributor. You get all awards you are eligible for, so silver would get the 2nd and 3rd place awards, while gold would get all three. The cost to complete each changes dynamically, based on the number of Civs in-game.
reddit.com/r/civ user uwjames shared a trick for determining the percentage each Civ is contributing to the project on each Turn. By mousing over the icon of the World Project in the City from the main map view, you are able to see the percentage that is completed. When you press End Turn, it updates in real-time as each Civ takes their turn. You are able to see the percentage that each Civ is contributing to the project as their turn goes by, and when it finishes you'll see your own as the last bump. Doing this, you will be able to better allocate your Cities' Production toward the Project. If you are doing the bulk of the work, you can afford to back off a little bit if there are other things that need built. This can save you from going way too far into 1st place territory, as if you know your Civ is contributing 5% of the work each turn while others are doing 1%, that is more than enough and you can either switch to Food focus and drop Production a bit, or remove a City from working on the project all together. This all depends on the rate it's being completed. Keep an eye out so that a Civ doesn't sneak and allocate all their Cities to the project! Finishing the Project fast denies other Civs a bonus, but there are times when World's Fair or International Games may come up when you may have something very important that needs built - like Universities, Research labs, or even a Wonder.
Arts Funding
Gives a +33% Boost to the Great Writer, Artist, and Musician birth rates, while reducing Great Engineer, Scientist, and Merchant birth rates by the same amount. If both are enacted, they cancel one another out. Repealing one may help you achieve your goals in that case. This Resolution will effectively boost the GPP you get from working Specialists by 33%, combined additively with Gardens, National Epic, etc. This Resolution is very helpful in achieving a Cultural Victory, for you will produce more Great Works earlier in the game and be able to send out many Great Musicians later on for Tourism bombs. Absolutely try to enact this if you have taken Aesthetics and are pursuing that victory type, regardless of if other Civs will be angered by it. Just be sure to boost your Military around that time to avoid any negative repercussions.
Ban Luxury
Allows you to ban the use of any in-game Luxury. Civs will no longer receive Happiness from it, thus they will stop using it for Trade Deals. If one of your opponents has many Spices, and you know they are getting +20 Happiness trading their 5 excess Spices, you can cut into this by banning Spices. Any Civ with access to that Resource is likely to be angered. It can be very helpful later in the game when ideological pressure is forcing Civs to change type, or to give your enemy a combat penalty by inducing Unhappiness. Pillaging their other Luxury improvements should help in combination with this Resolution.
Choose Host
Automatically Proposed when 50% of Civs advance an Era, or one goes to the one beyond
May not be selected. This Proposal chooses the host, which offers the benefits of always selecting a Proposal, additional Delegates to help pass them, and the ability to rename the Congress.
Cultural Heritage Sites
Each World Wonder provides +3 Culture to its City. This is very helpful when attempting a Cultural Victory, as that Culture will be converted to Tourism with Hotels and Airports. It will also help speed the adoption of new Social Policies, particularly helpful when you have chosen an Ideology and need many Tenets.
Embargo
Allows you to select a specific Civ and stop them from sending/receiving Trade Routes to others. This is definitely better than Standing Army Tax, but is a blatant Diplomatic attack on another Civ that is likely to lead to War if you've got them angry already. If this passes, a Civ could be economically crippled, but more likely just slowed a little... Only a Civ on Emperor or below will be hit hard, as this will not harm an Immortal+ AI enough to justify its use.
Embargo City-States
No Trade Routes with City-States, and any in existence must be reassigned. This Resolution is generally fairly useless. The only time I could see it useful is if a Civ is embargoed already and his only trading partners are CS. You could then cut him off completely. It may help if you plan to war with a particular Civ and want to hit into their GPT in order to slow the acquisition of new military units/upgrades. Overall, Civs are just fine with the Gold from their lands when Wide and do not need many Trade Routes to field a strong Military. Another very situational use of this Resolution would be to stop a Freedom Civ from earning influence from Trade Routes with City-States in order to block a Diplomatic Victory.
Historical Landmarks
Requires a Civ to Research Archaeology
All Great Person Tile Improvements provide +2 Culture and Monuments produced by Archaeologists produce +4 Culture. This makes Monuments that are not very old (IE Renaissance) more useful to your Civilization. Additionally, the Culture can be converted to Tourism with Hotels, Airports, and National Visitor Center.
International Games: World Project
Requires a Civ to Research Radio
Costs 750 Per Civ
The International Games should be completed at a time when your Civ is able to capitalize on the big boost to Tourism. The winner will receive +100% Tourism for 20 Turns. If you enact this just after finishing The Internet, you will have a massive game-winning boost to Tourism. Additionally, any Great Musicians born during this time will be more powerful. Use faith-purchasing to aid in their birth, and time births by slacking off on your Musician Specialists. Used optimally, you can see your Cultural Victory go through with the International Games. Here are the rewards for contributing:
- First Prize (Gold, Highest Contributor) - Hosted Games:
+100% Tourism for 20 Turns. Free Social Policy. - Second Prize (Silver, 720 Production or more) - Won Medals:
+3 Happiness (permanent), increase of +30 Influence with all City-States. - Third Prize (Bronze, 360 Production or more) - Parade of Nations:
+3 Happiness (permanent)
So, first place would net you +100% Tourism for 20 Turns, a free Social Policy, +6 Happiness, and a one-time boost of 30 Influence with all City-States.
International Space Station: World Project
Requires a Civ to Research Satellites
Costs 850 per Civ
This Project is helpful for finishing off a Scientific Victory in combination with the Hubble Space Telescope unlocked with Satellites Technology. First place gets the actual ISS Wonder in their Capital. The ISS provides a massive boost to Scientific output, and helps Scientists to contribute to Production in your Cities. Overall, a wonderful late-game project and it's easy to pass the resolution.
- First Prize (Gold, Highest Contributor) - Mission Control:
Gives the International Space Station World Wonder. It provides +1 Production from Scientist Specialists and +1 Science from Engineer Specialists throughout your empire. Great Scientists will give +33% more Research when used to Discover Technology. If you are gunning for this after Hubble, save the 2 Great Scientists you receive for finishing Hubble until after this Project is complete. With the prize below, you can pop 3. - Second Prize (Silver, 850 Production) - Crew on board:
Receive a Free Great Scientist. - Third Prize (Bronze, 425 Production) - Constructed Parts:
Receive a one-time Research boost. This behaves like completing a Research Agreement.
So, first prize would give you +1 Production from Scientists, +1 Science from Engineers, +33% more Science from Discover Technology, a Free Great Scientist, and a free Tech boost based on your Civ's Science per Turn. All this combined should be enough to net you 2 Technologies and the long-term bonuses are wonderful and will certainly help with any type of Victory Condition.
Natural Heritage Sites
Natural Wonders provide +5 Culture when worked, which is not that big a bonus compared to those from GP Tile Improvements and World Wonders. This may anger Civs if it benefits you, one of their enemies, or if they do not have any Natural Wonders.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Requires a Civ to Research Advanced Ballistics, unlocking Nuclear Missiles
Stops the production of new Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Missile, Atomic Bomb) for all Civs. You can do this to prevent a Warmonger from acquiring Nukes, and even do it after you yourself have stockpiled a few, as any existing stocks are kept intact. You can be the sole nuclear power with this Resolution if you time it properly.
Scholars in Residence
Meeting and knowing many Civs that have Researched a Tech will already reduce the cost of that Tech, but this is even better. Scholars in Residence provides a 20% reduction in cost of any tech that is already known by a Civ, vastly speeding research speeds for all Civs that are behind. Getting this passed when you're behind in Tech is helpful, whether it will help other Civs or not. After all, you can still boom in Science and pass them. It will simply help you catch the leader. Civs ahead in Tech will typically be angered, while those behind in the race will be pleased.
Sciences Funding
Gives a +33% boost to GPP for Great Scientists, Engineers, and Merchants while reducing it by the same amount for Writers, Artists, and Musicians. Like Arts Funding, Sciences Funding's bonus is additive, meaning it is combined with other bonuses like Gardens and National Epic to give you a final +% boost to GPP from those types. This is super helpful to Scientific Victory, and while also helpful for Cultural it is not one you typically want as the Great Engineers would not make up for the reduction in Great Musician birth rates.
Standing Army Tax
Adds +25% to Gold Maintenance costs for all Military Units. This may slightly hurt a sprawling empire with a big Army. It's not something that will hold back a Deity or Immortal AI, however, and this kind of petty tactic is more likely to simply harm your Diplomatic Relations with a Warmonger. It may also affect multiple Civs, so it could be better to simply Embargo an enemy. If you can do both this and Embargo, you will certainly hurt them. The biggest maintenance cost for most empires is Building - that is probably 2/3 of all Maintenance costs.
World's Fair: World Project
Costs 350 per Civ
World's Fair is focused on increasing Culture, which can help prevent Unhappiness from Ideological differences for the first-place winner if timed at a point when they are generating a good amount of Culture and before unrest from differing Ideologies occurs. The price is much lower, as it can be enacted earlier in the game. If it comes out late, be sure and focus all your Cities on this as it will finish quickly. Here are the rewards for contributors:
- First Prize (Gold, Highest Contributor) - Hosted Fair:
Culture +100% for 20 Turns. Affects Empire culture, not individual Cities, so it will not affect Border Growth. - Second Prize (Silver, 350 Production or more) - Groundbreaking Invention:
Free Social Policy. - Third Prize (Bronze, 175 Production or more) - Exhibitor:
500 points toward next Golden Age.
So, first prize would net you +100% Culture for 20 Turns, a Free Social Policy, and 500 points toward your next Golden Age.
World Ideology
Requires a Civ to Research Radio
Designates an Ideology the official World Ideology, which grants +2 Delegates to all Civs following it. Public Opinion for that Ideology will increase by +2 for all Civs, meaning Civs of different Ideologies may have more Unhappiness and perhaps even go into Revolt. This will have the opposite effect on Civs following it, as 2 more tokens for their Ideology will help stave off pressure from others. To understand how Ideological Pressure works, see the Ideology Guide.
World Leader
Requires United Nations - 50% of Civs in Atomic Era, or one in Information
Upon founding the United Nations, a World Leader vote is held every 20 Turns. The current Delegate requirement for WL is displayed at the top right of the World Congress screen. This number will reduce with less Civs/City-States in the game, making it possible to continue even with Civs like Mongolia, Venice, and Austria, who can reduce the number of City-States. First and Second place (even if tied) in this vote will receive +2 permanent delegates each time the vote is held, allowing you to eventually reach the necessary Delegate count to win the World Leader vote.
World Religion
Requires at least one Religion in the Game
Civs who have the World Religion in the majority of their Cities get +2 Delegates in the World Congress. Additionally, the Holy City for a World Religion gets +50% Tourism on top of all its other bonuses. This can be an incredible boost to Tourism output if you have the Holy City set up with many Theming Bonuses. This is applied before modifiers like Open Borders, Trade Routes, and Shared Religion. The World Religion also spreads +25% faster, as though you have Religious Texts, but it also stacks with it for an up to 75% increase in spread rate. This is a huge reward for making your Religion dominant. Civs that share your Religion have incentive to vote for this, but those with their own Religions will be very angry.
Share your Tips
That's all the Resolutions. Share your Tips for using the World Congress and United Nations to your benefit with the comments form below. Some of these Resolutions can be used in ways I may not have thought of, and any additions that help our fellow players would be greatly appreciated.
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