In Europa Universalis II, domestic policies (DPs) allow you to change the character of your country and the events that will happen to you through your policies. They are of the outmost importance to achieve your goals in the game, since they affect research, economy, diplomacy, fighting, exploration, colonization, religious conversions and events. You should work out the type of country that you want to be starting, since you are only allowed one DP change every 10 years (40 changes in the game) so unless they are changed by events, you won't be able to change them all up and down. Every DP change will cost you a -1 stability penalty and it will become painful when your stability costs are so high that it takes you over 10 years to raise it without extra expenditure on stability. Neverth