I tend to prefer the large empire building civs, so Empire is a must. Agrarianism is nice in the early-mid game, but after the mongol invasions it's hard to tell whether it or market economy is more useful. Organized Religion is always useful, nothing gets conquered cities up and running like +25%

on all buildings.
My one major complaint is on the legal column. Religious law is far too useful (I always use it, from when I can switch to it to the end of the game) while Meritocracy is useless (never used it). I really think that Meritocracy, to reflect the real world, should be the most useful civic in its column, but the current boni are just too measly.
I propose Religious law be made medium or high upkeep and the

bonus reduced to 25%, while Meritocracy should have its

bonus extended to +100%.
Also, I feel that Absolutism and State Monopoly both come too late in the game and are not that useful. I feel that you're either too big not to use Empire or too small not to use Aristocracy from mid-game onwards. While State Monopoly's costs (upkeep, no companies) hugely outweigh its benefits (measly

bonus, spending cash on production) to make it never worth sacrificing Agrarianism or Market Economy.