You've got a host of ideas man! You should compile them all in like a word document or something and then post them here. I'm doing that, and I suggest that all other members of this thread do so too. Then the first post could be edited and link to all of the documents.
Here is a first draft, if anyone wants to add or correct any holes please do so.
The State System
The purpose of assigning states is to better manage a particular area beyond the boundaries of the city radius.
States would require at least two city of any size, though multiple cities may be incorporated within them.
Research, culture, and espionage may be higher or lower within each state. Therefore this would change the scale system completely, now it would be divided within the provinces and the over arching scales would be eliminated.
To establish a state, a city other then your national capital must build a state senate (if vassalage is your civic it would be a Lord’s Castle, Which would be converted free of charge if the government changes, though they would both have different effects.). After the establishment of the state capital, you name the state, and you are able to assign bordering cities to the state capital. A sub-border is placed around the area and the new state is born.
If a city within the state is near a body of water but not by the shore, that city is still able to create a harbor outside of the city. But the production cost for the harbor would be doubled.
Workers may be assigned to work exclusively in a state.
The boundaries of the state expand as the city’s culture expands. When two states belonging to the player expand against each other, the neighboring state may not expand into the other city’s radius. To prevent another state from shrinking, you have the option of selecting fixed boundaries; the culture may still expand, and may be annexed within the state at the player’s discretion.
If a state is dominated by a religion other then the state religion, this would in effect cause unhappiness within that state as a whole. This would cause religious uprisings as well, leading to pillaging; attacks on the cities and invasions from within springing out of the state’s country side or a city within the state would flip with a revolt counter at (10). The insurrection can be suppressed with conversion or deadly force. The frequency of this would be near eliminated by Free Religion
When Nationalism is researched, States conquered that have foreign citizens will rise up much like in the religious revolt, fighting for liberation. A new Civ in total could be created with characteristics of a multitude of Civs that once inhabited the state. The frequency of this would be decreased by 75% from a new Tech “Globalism”.
