Cadence Verse! The Federation and Government of Equestria · 8:48am Mar 3rd, 2013
The Federation of Equestria
Politically, Cadence’s Equestria isn’t the most united of places; it’s essentially a collection of small kingdoms, fiefdoms nations and city states, all with their own history, culture and views on how best to act on the world stage. Equestrian states take the form of numerous provinces as well as an extremely small number of semi-autonomous major cities such as Cloudsdale, largely united by a, in many ways, fledgling government and Princess Cadence.
Current Form:
Cadence’s Equestria is a constitutional monarchy loosely modelled after Britain’s. There are two houses that govern Equestria; the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Among the House of Commons elections are held every four years in all provinces, assuming a member does not lose their seat in the interim, the House of Lords either inherit their position or are appointed. Every year both houses are called to parliamentary sessions by Princess Cadence, these sessions are called four times a year and last for one month. The House of Commons is called to session two months into the year to introduce new bills, bring forth concerns, opinions or suggestions and to direct the country. The House of Lords is called after the House of Commons session ends, to analyse the actions, motions and bills proposed by the House of Commons. Princess Cadence presides over all these sessions as speaker. This method of governance is slower and more chaotic than either Celestia or Luna’s Equestria’s.
Cadence’s role is to preside over the two houses, she performs the Opening of Parliament Ceremony and address’s both Houses in a speech. Neither House can proceed to public business until the speech has been read. She serves as the Speaker for both parliaments, meaning she presides over the House's debates, determines which members may speak and is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the House. She can be countered in this by either the Prime Minister or a House demand, involving at least ten members demanding that a silenced individual speak. She is to be neutral and fair hoofed throughout all proceedings and receives one vote on all matters being voted on, but must cast her vote on a piece of paper before the “yay or nay” voting of the house begins. Cadence also serves as the Governments face and representative on the global stage and in cases where her presence would not seem as an implied threat, she uses her vast experience for diplomatic purposes. In times of war can be granted emergency powers as supreme commander, with the understanding she will give up that power once the crisis is over. If she wishes for a bill or act to be brought forth she must use intermediaries, (or introduce them herself, I have not decided). Cadence also has to spend a good deal of her time, sorting out internal issues within Equestria proper, that in many cases could be sorted out without her intervention but she's the princess.
The Prime Minister is the technical leader of Equestria, wielding a great deal of executive power throughout the nation and governing body; she/he is the leader of whichever party is dominant in the House of Commons and therefore commands a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister guides the law-making process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the public "face" and "voice" of Her Majesty's Government, both at home and abroad. The Prime Minister position has evolved erratically and randomly over the centuries, originally being little more than an advisor and diplomat to Princess Cadence. It evolved further when Cadence was pre occupied with her Celestial duties, terrible enemies or diplomatic issues. This position became more important as Princess Cadence would travel the fractured Equestria trying to convince other states and nations to join her in rebuilding Equestria as a whole, leading to more power being invested in the position. In the early days a small number of states, had agreed to ally with or even join Cadence’s fledgling nation. But she could not always be there and serve as the growing nation’s direct leader and many did not entirely trust an Alicorn with so much individual power. To help remedy this she invested more power in her assistant and made them her representative to the allied nations. This initially caused some problems, their allies feeling that a mortal leader from another nation was no better than simply leading themselves, eventually leading to the creation of a more representative council. As the Government evolved this position underwent many changes, only within the last two centuries has the concept of a collectively elected parties and Prime Minister taken hold of Equestria and led to the current form of Government.
The House of Commons is populated by elected ponies that all hold the title of Minister; they represent their state and party within Equestria and try to introduce promised bills and ensure that their continuance is treated fairly by the government. The House of Commons was founded “relatively” recently within the last two centuries, though systems like it have existed in other nations and was introduced when such nations joined with or where absorbed by Equestria. Though it was also formed in response to the nobility have wielded too much power in some nations and throughout history as well as the common pony feeling underrepresented. The members of the House of Commons duty is to listen to the public introduce bills into parliament that will serve the constituency and Equestria as a whole. On a cultural level a politician is expected take part in the current events of their state in a public and active manner, while leaving their door and pepper work as open as possible to the public. Politicians are expected to be respectable, inspirational and dynamic figures, who are meant to be the first in to dealing with any public problem in the flesh. Elections are held across the nation every four years barring death, injury/sickness or dismissal. The House of Commons tends to wield more power over the nation as a whole than they do within their own state. While representing the common pony, politics is very much a matter of old friends and old families, often becoming about who went to the right school and is from the right family and breaking in as an outsider can be difficult at the best of times.
The House of Commons is made up of elected common ponies that represent specific political parties, there are two primary Parties that dominate the House of Commons as well as numerous smaller parties who can put forth members for election. The primary parties have headquarters in each state, while many of the smaller parties exist only in their home states. Minor parties often exist in states that have only “recently” joined Equestria or that have a particularly separate culture and don’t necessarily feel the primary parties represent them; each state usually has one or two smaller party’s either founded there or as a separate headquarters, but their influence is generally very small. There are two primary parties that have influence in every state and fill most of the House of Commons, excluding a few members of minor parties. Whichever Party has the most seats in the House of Commons, picks their Prime Minister, though said Minister still has to receive the approval of Cadence and the majority of the House of Lords. The Secondary Party serves mostly as a detractor to the primary, though naturally both Parties and individual members can work/vote together and across party lines. The smaller parties usually sign on with whichever of the two primary party’s best represents them and can sometimes play a very large role in determining which major part gets the majority.
Possible parties: Suggested by RDD, Thanks again!
Democratic Party (mostly liberal, left)
Republican Party (mostly conservative, right)
Libertarian Party (favors a looser federation and less federal power)
Constitution Party (mostly focused on immigration and the limitation thereof)
Monarchist Party (favors a tighter federal government and giving more power to Cadance)
Citizens' Party of Equestria (Communist Party, and all that that entails)
National Socialist Party of Equestria (Fascist Party, and all that that entails [note that pure Fascism thinks that racism is stupid])
Primum Unicorna (racist party of unicorn-supremicists. Not necessarily against democracy, though, they just feel that unicorns should be on top)
Equestrian Pacifist Party (left-leaning party that is pretty much against the concept of having a military at all)
The House of Lords is stationed in Canterlot, many of its members hail from Canterlot itself and are relatively new to this form of governance, (the Canterlot nobility demanded more representation upon the House of Lords when they joined Equestria). The rest of the house is comprised of representatives, often royalty, nobility or appointed ponies, there to represent their state’s interests. The members House of Lords hold noble titles and are appointed to their positions and often pass them down to their children, though those who inherit their position can have it revoked far more easily than a pony who was appointed their position and a noble or particularly important pony from that state must then be appointed. The House of Lords was founded when nations that wished to join Equestria wanted to maintain an element of power and freedom, forming the original “Council of Nobility” made up of kings, queens and other leaders of the time. Some disappeared and fused with other nations but the concept of the Council never died out so much as it evolved over time to accommodate the ever changing world.
The duty of the House of Lords is to provide oversight to the House of Commons and advise the government on what decisions should be made. The House of Lords can introduce bills of their own and a common pony could also introduce a bill to them rather than the House of Commons so that they could attempt to have it passed; but this is generally more difficult and roundabout than through the House of Commons. Their power is expressed through providing oversight to any bills, laws or reforms brought forward in the House of Commons. While the House of Lords is unable to prevent bills passing into law (except in certain limited circumstances) usually needing some aid from either Cadence, the public or the House of Commons/Prime Minister) its members can severely delay and even alter bills that they believe to be misguided and thereby force the House of Commons, and the general public to reconsider their decisions. Some members of the House of Lords are frustrated, by their “lack” of power within the Government as a whole and in some cases wield more power within their own state than in the Government/nation as a whole, though they cannot play fast and loose with their position.
Government Departments:
There are numerous other ministries and departments within the Equestrian government, such as:
The ministry of foreign affairs (they manage trade, diplomacy and travel.)
The Equestrian cultural unity commission (Cadence created them for internal diplomacy within Equestria, to help promote unity without asking her subject to give up their own ways.)
The Department of Housing, Community Services (in charge of city/building planning, and community enrichment projects.
The Department of Education, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
The Department of health, child services and Families, (medical cover such as hospitals, places designed to care for children, both orphanages and day cares as well as to protect families against abuse.)
the Ministry of Magical Research (In charge of researching and cataloging both internal and foreign magic’s and play a key role in researching new spells and determine which are safe for public use.)
These names are very much subject to change or additions.
Possibly the flag, serving as a symbol of unity, peace, balance and Harmony. (I would also like to thank and credit Emkay-MLP for the emblem and BlackGryph0n for the sun-mark. )
Sorry I know this one might seem a bit dull/repetitive but to anyone who made it to the end, thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have any views, issues or feedback i'd greatly appreciate it. otherwise thanks again. I would also like to thank RDD for helping me hash out ideas and details for this post.
We need to get more people reading these blog posts...you're putting an awful lot of effort into these and I'd hate to think that I'm basically the only one reading them...
884254
Though i'd probably want to go back and edit a few of my earliest posts first so they are more organised/easier to read. 
Regardless thank you for the comment! 
Thanks! I really appreciate your continued interest and advice. Though I will admit a bit more attention would be nice
Not sure why an immortal goddess would need a constitutional monarchy, although I guess that since Cadence is younger, less powerful and came in after a alicorn-less period where some ponies were actually able to gain more governing power that they wouldn't be as willing to give up, i guess it makes some sense. I've always seen L!Luna's rule as more like Augustus's Principate, where even though her power isn't well defined, her influence can move mountains, yet she still allows herself to be argued down on certain points in the interest of preserving the system that's the most beneficial to the empire. By contrast, constitutional monarchies came about by the nobility coercing or otherwise forcing the monarch into giving up much of their power, almost never willingly. (Fun Fact: in addition to the House of Lords and House of Commons, British politics also historically saw angry mobs as a legitimate form of political participation through which the commoners voiced their concerns, as the poor usually didn't have a say in the House of Commons because they couldn't vote. This is actually what comes to my mind anytime anyone mentions democracy to me hehe)
As for the political parties; I'd advise naming them more along the lines of Primum Unicorna instead of Democratic Party. (Also need to point out that no pure-fascist in their right mind, either in reality or fiction, would willingly name their group National Socialist Party of Equestria. It's such a bold-faced lie that the only way Hitler got away with it was putting people who pointed it out onto trains...)
884254
I read them too, I just try not to say something unless I think it'll be helpful. I don't want to gust about the really cool idea when reading about a mechanic, businessmare element of generosity because that might pollute the worldbuilding, and it's really enjoyable to watch this all unfold
886064
Thank you for commenting!
Anyway, you were correct when you said it's largely because Cadence came in after a fairly long period of no Alicorn but is also because she couldn't always be there and because the last two Alicorns did not fill their subjects with confidence and they were worried about trusting her with to much power.
Very interesting observation on Luna's influence and the Constitutional monarchies and governments of the past/present. In regards to party names I am thinking of some more pony based ones possibly puns seeing as they are popular in every MLPverse, though I do rather like RDDs suggestions as well so it's still up in the air.
I'd really like comments and new ideas are always appreciated, everything I put down here is something I am happy to discuss, and besides that it is very encouraging, thanks again for the comment!
886418
Less a new idea and more applying some philosophies that my grandpa used towards business; The basic idea is that you not only can be generous with a capitalist mindset, but if you're good enough with your business then you can afford to be even more generous. What really reminded me of that, though, is that one of the things he says is "there's no such thing as a quick fix" whenever he finds a faster, easier way to do something
886598
Fair point, I certainly believe/know it's possible to be very generous in a capitalist society. I really like that Quick Fix line, I may have to work it in somewhere. thanks!