1) I'd probably set everything on day1, tweak on day2 and then fiddle with it after a month or so after thinkgs settle down. No point leaving things on default for a month or two though.
2) Pretty much.
3) I don't really find Railroads a useful NF. Capis normally build them quite fast as it is, and any non LF government can build them manually. Colonies are probably a good bet, but most nations don't have anywhere to colonise right away. Clergy and Bureaucrats are nice early on to get RP and admin eff up. Depending on if you start with factories and/or a gov type that can build them craftsment might be a better NF than Capis.
4) Depends again, if you ever plan to invade them you don't want them in your SoI - there's no way to remove them, so you might be better grabbing nations in South America or Asia for some nice markets. Of course, if you have a culture you can unify then grabbing any SoI members needed is a good move.
2) Pretty much.
3) I don't really find Railroads a useful NF. Capis normally build them quite fast as it is, and any non LF government can build them manually. Colonies are probably a good bet, but most nations don't have anywhere to colonise right away. Clergy and Bureaucrats are nice early on to get RP and admin eff up. Depending on if you start with factories and/or a gov type that can build them craftsment might be a better NF than Capis.
4) Depends again, if you ever plan to invade them you don't want them in your SoI - there's no way to remove them, so you might be better grabbing nations in South America or Asia for some nice markets. Of course, if you have a culture you can unify then grabbing any SoI members needed is a good move.