What kind of government rules Equestria?

[Fox 5,331]

Don't obey Celestia, you go to the moon.

Don't question her power.

[caesar15 231]

Monarchy, or principality.

[Marcusaralius76 151]

Utopian Monarchy

[Starswirl the Trixie 975]

Equestria is clearly Absolutist; de jure, it is a diarchy, but it is a de facto monarchy, as Luna holds no real political power.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Starswirl the goateed

[Storm Spark 115]

Maybe one of those old english country side ones?

I dunno...

[Guest]

It is a Feldian Monarchy!

[FlutterThrax 4]

A semi- constituitional Principality ruled by equally by Luna and Celestia. I'd imagine a few minor Princess, Princes, Lords, Dukes and Duchesses handle governing territories with Mayors handling village and town business.

Edited April 21, 2012 by FlutterThrax

[Akemi Homura 7,682]

It is a Feldian Monarchy!

 

>Implying MLP Forums is Equestria

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

I've always thought that Celestia and Luna were just pretty faces to mask the true government of Equestria, which would actually be run by some small Congress or something of that sort... Are there conspiracy theorists in Ponyville?

[Guest]

>Implying MLP Forums is Equestria

 

[caesar15 231]

For crown and country!

[spunkboy 17]

-snip-

Edited August 28, 2017 by Epic Duck

[TheLordOfWar 0]

Totalitarianist Meritocracy. With traces of Absolute Monarchy

[Silanda 24]

Some form of constitutional monarchy: closer to absolute but with local level devolution. Ponyville has a mayor, so there must be some form of democratic system.

[Batbrony 16,087]

I'd have to say that it's most likely a constitutional monarchy of some sorts. I mean, when they overthrew Discord, Celestia and Luna had to have done more than simply proclaimed themselves absolute monarchs; my guess is that, in order to bring back order to Equestria and undo the damage that Discord had done, they had to write out some sort of constitution, perhaps with the assistance of representatives from the various regions and cities of Equestria. Whatever the end product was, it definitely gave most absolute power to the monarchs (i.e. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna), although they clearly exercise said power quite benevolently, so, as a result, in most real-world affairs, it appears that local governments have most control over their own region/city's affairs most of the time.

 

I will also say that, as far as economic affairs go, it appears that Equestria is indeed a meritocracy. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely an extensive aristocracy connected to the monarchy (although how much real power said aristocracy wields is questionable), but the Cutie-Mark system is quite clearly a meritocracy system. Heck, for all we know, Celestia and Luna might've established the Cutie-Mark system themselves using some very powerful magic after overthrowing Discord, as a way to ensure that each and every pony would be able to easily discover their destiny at some point and what they were most qualified to do. That, or the cutie-marks have been a feature of Equestria's ponies from the very creation of life there, but, no matter what's true, it's still a meritocracy, one way or the other.

[NavelColt 22,883]

 

That is all~

 

Vote Discord, today~ Need a solution to your oil crisis? Float on your house everywhere. Need to travel faster? Soap roads. World hunger? Chocolate rain & cotton candy clouds.

[Titan Rising 2,156]

It's a Democratic Republic! But instead of calling them "president" they're called "princess" and there can be multiple of them for some reason

[Batbrony 16,087]

It's a Democratic Republic! But instead of calling them "president" they're called "princess" and there can be multiple of them for some reason

 

 

As AWESOME as that would be, I still think it's a very benevolent constitutional monarchy of some sort; you can check out my first post on the second page of the thread for more details about my thoughts on the form of government, but I'm sticking with my original conjecture.

[Espionage 113]

An autocratic monarchy...except two ponies rule. Celestia and Luna seem to be benevolent monarchs. They don't have a council that we know about so obviously they make the decisions.

[BraveNewEquestria 1]

Equestria is a Federative Absolutist Magocracy.

 

They are Federative due to the more local rulership all the realms of Equestria have over their territory, but yet at the same time a central monarchy rules supreme over the lesser monarchs/etc.

 

Absolutist because there is no constitution or higher/equal authority that says Princess Celestia, or, to a lesser extent, Princess Twilight/Cadence/Luna, can't practice dictatorial jurisdiction at any time. I'm not sure what is said in the show that makes so many people on this forum believe its a Constitutional Monarchy or somehow limited, but nothing I've seen suggests that this country has any such Enlightened principles in their government.

 

A Magocracy is a government ruled by powerful practitioners of Magic, which speaks for itself.

 

There are also remnants of pre-Equestrian tribal traditions in demographics.

 

Unicorn-dominated areas such as Canterlot have a more chivalric oligarchical structure. Not too different from the aristocracy in the Unicorn tribe.

 

Pegasus-dominated areas such as Cloudsdale have a leadership by athletic merit and experience, a less violent variant of the kratocratic military structure in the Pegasus tribe.

 

Earth-pony dominated areas such as Ponyville or Appleloosa have elected leaders, including "Sheriffs" and "Mayors," similar to the presidential position of "Chancellor" in the Earth-pony tribe.

 

Altogether, considering that the structure is Feudal(Medieval) in nature, it definitely fits into the Authoritarian Far-Right of the political spectrum.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BraveNewEquestria

[Carbon Maestro 1,003]

It might be a constitutional monarchy but has much of its government in local control (Ponyville Mayor, for example).

 

I don't mind. Celestia is quite benevolent compared to real-world governments.

[Forlong 1,726]

Celestia is the ultimate authority in Equestria.  The highest ranking officials are appointed by her.  There are some elected officials.  So it's a Monarchal Republic.

[Your Nightly Spectre 1,061]

I think the answer is city states, as the Equestria Games implied And the princesses are to keep harmony.

Edited June 2, 2014 by TheDarkStar