Government in Equestria?

[Altastrofae 933]

How exactly does the government work in Equestria? I mean we've seen princesses, but never a king nor queen. but then there's the Crystal Empire. What! And then, there is Manehatten. So is it a democracy, empire, or monarchy? Or is it some other weird thing all its own?

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

Hey @@CrystalBloodMoon, since your thread's discussing an aspect of the show, it's been moved to the Show Discussion section.

 

I remember someone here posted a theory that each city in Equestria acted as an independent city-state, with its own laws, authority and ideology, while all city-states were represented as one state by the Princesses. Similarly to Ancient Greece. I adopted that headcanon.

[Shadow lance 45]

How exactly does the government work in Equestria? I mean we've seen princesses, but never a king nor queen. but then there's the Crystal Empire. What! And then, there is Manehatten. So is it a democracy, empire, or monarchy? Or is it some other weird thing all its own?

Here i will answer your question, Equestrian is a monarchy. Their is no king or Queen so that the people have more power as having a queen would give them more power, still its full of Providences. manehatten is one of the, the mayer is basically just an elected Duke for the city while places like ponyvill have a real mayer, each princess rules a chunk of the kingdom, while celestia has the most control, thy are not the only authority figurs, their are many nobles in canterlot, blue blood is not one of them as he is a prince but their are a few known ones, you see the elite or at least a chunck of them are noble, fancy pants can be assumed to be one of them as he is seen as the most important pony in canterlot, he is able to autherise construction in the city and and pipe work so he would have to have some kind of power, after that his friends are nobles or can be assumed as nobles and most of the ponys, now what i take in the show is thy never show us the population but i assume that its at a 1:10 ratio because their is only so much that can be fit into each episode and a population of 60 ponys in ponyvill is not realistic. other than that the kingdom lets most of equestrian govern them self while still being able to collect a tax and impose rules and laws.

[FluffyGoat13 375]

I've once described equestria's government as a Merito-Hereditary Feudal Diarchy with hints of Vassalage, due to the lack of a better name. If I wanted to I could squeeze Patronage and Semi-Democratic in there too. Here's why:

- The Merito-Hereditary is because you can seemingly be born into Royalty as well as earning it. Merito being derived from Meritocracy, which is a system in which power is earned through merit, and Hereditary as it's passed down the family tree.

- Feudal for obvious reasons, there's strong evidence to suggest that Equestria follows a more flexible form of feudalism when it comes to social hierarchy (Princesses being the key bit, but until someone mentions the words Lord, Earl, Duke, Count, Viscount, Baron or their female equivalents, it's still speculation).

- Diarchy is because Equestria is effectively ruled by two Diarchs (Celestia and Luna), which is a monarchy, but there's two of them.

- Hints of Vassalage/Patronage is due to the example of the Crystal Empire. It is governed by Princess Cadence on behalf of Celestia and Luna, and is counted as part of Equestria, but the details of this agreement are largely unknown. The simple explanation is as follows; if Cadence has official ownership of the land (though it would still be part of Equestria) then it can be counted as Patronage, whilst if the Diarchs own the land then it's Vassalage.

- Semi-Democratic is because there are still hints of some form of democracy, for example the Mayors. We don't know how they appoint Mayors, but it is quite plausible that they are chosen by the public, rather than someone in a higher office.

 

I still need to come up with a better name for this type of government.

Here i will answer your question, Equestria is a monarchy.

 

I see why you'd think that, but I politely disagree, as it's far more complicated than a simple Monarchy. The lack of a clear monarch is an example of that.

Edited September 30, 2016 by FluffyGoat13

[Darthy Hooves 106]

Now I wonder that if there's a government, is there a taxing authority also? There is the Mayor Mare, I wonder if she has the authority to collect taxes?

[Shadow lance 45]

Now I wonder that if there's a government, is there a taxing authority also? There is the Mayor Mare, I wonder if she has the authority to collect taxes?

atleast to fix the buildings and maintain the roads.

[cmarston1 5,952]

I assume that it is a diarchy with the Crystal Empire being a different Kingdom.

[Altastrofae 933]

But is it not weird that we have not seen a king or queen, only princes and princesses?

[pony.colin 156]

But is it not weird that we have not seen a king or queen, only princes and princesses?

 

Queen Chrysalis and King Bullion (the latter does not appear on-screen however)

 

But I'm going to go with a out-world theory that hasbro for some odd reason came to the conclusion that 'Queens' have gained a negative connotation over the years in story-telling and that they wanted to avoid using that specific title.  I think I vaguely recall something like this.

Edited October 2, 2016 by pony.colin

[FluffyGoat13 375]

But is it not weird that we have not seen a king or queen, only princes and princesses?

 

But I'm going to go with a out-world theory that hasbro for some odd reason came to the conclusion that 'Queens' have gained a negative connotation over the years in story-telling and that they wanted to avoid using that specific title.  I think I vaguely recall something like this.

 

You would be correct in the assumption that Hasbro didn't like the word Queen. Lauren Faust wanted to call Princess Celestia 'Queen Celestia' but Hasbro suggested that the title was changed to Princess due to Queens apparently having a negative association. It's quite silly really. There's also king Sombra.

I assume that it is a diarchy with the Crystal Empire being a different Kingdom.

 

I certainly agree that Equestria is a Diarchy, but due to the interactions and relationship between Equestria and the Crystal Empire I have reason to believe that the Crystal Empire is at least a Patronage or Vassal of Equestria, possibly even (although unlikely) a Protectorate.

[Denim&Venöm 16,605]

It's an anarchist state (note: anarchy is the absence of government. It doesn't directly correlate to lawlessness)

 

Each of the towns operate on their own without government aid. Militia and volunteers are deployed instead of the military in a crisis. There are few examples of law enforcement as well, so again, militias maintain the law set by the denizens of the region. Positions like mayors are created out of necessity. Cause even with a lack of government, the job still needs to be done. Same w/ the princesses to a lesser extent. Yes, Equestria still needs leaders to represent them on the international stage, but they also reign cause they essentially rule the life cycle of the planet.  

 

With the absence of a widespread overarching government, each region makes it's own rules and governs itself. Positions like the princesses are one of the roles agreed upon by all of Equestria, and authority is differed to them since they can handle whatever job maybe present. 

[sweetolebob18 724]

Most fanfics assume some sort of Constitutional Monarchy with the various towns having elected local governments.  More or less like Great Britain.  It is unclear how much power the diarchs have.  You could also argue the case for a Theocracy.  A lot of Norse gods had less power than Celestia & Luna.

 

It is my Head Canon that "Princess" means the ruler acknowledges that their power has limits but "King/Queen" means they claim total authority.