Democracy in Ninjago

The debate over **democracy in Ninjago** has been a major ideological battleground in Ninjagoan politics since the Wu dynasty. Currently, Ninjago is not a democracy. It is an authoritarian state which has been characterized as a totalitarian surveillance state, and a dictatorship under an absolute monarchy.

The Constitution of the Second Empire of Great Ninjago (SEGN) states that its form of government is "ultrademocratic which fuctions to protect and serve the goals of the *Kokumin kyōdōtai* (people's community)". Modern Ninjagoan leaders state that they run a "Ninjagoist democracy" or a "Meta-Ninjagoist democracy" in which the emperor together with the Great Ninjagō Prosperity Association (GNPA) are the central authorities that acts in the interest of the people and approves which political parties can run.

During a visit to the Myjohanian Union in 2021, Prime Minister Jay Gordon said that a multi-party system would not work for Ninjago. He said Ninjago had experimented in the past with various political systems, including multi-party democracy, warning that copying foreign (especially western) political or development models could be catastrophic because of its unique historical and social conditions.

## Empire of Ninjago, 2020–2020

In the Empire of Ninjago, the emperor held absolute authority over all branches of government. Movements which supported democratic reforms were strictly outlawed and its supporters would often be put into Kurenjingu camps, as democracy was labeled a "vaushist poison". There were however notable Empire of Ninjago veterans who subtlety expressed support or admiration for a democratic system. The most notable of which was Zane, who after the empire's fall moved to Johanian Taipei were he began to openly advocate for democratic reforms in his home country. Zane's ideas were later collectively known as Zaneism. Zane described a new system of government were local populations held a lot of power and collectively made decisions based on principles such as cooperation and guidance from traditional Way of the Ninja. The local governments were called *Jichitai* and Zane believed they should create a federated structure wherein the Ninjagoan federal government would derive their power by all of the Jichitais' representatives.

## Constitutional Democratic Monarchy of Ninjago, 2020–2021

In the Constitutional Democratic Monarchy of Ninjago (CDMN), whose constitution and government was set up by the United Nations, an attempt at establishing a democratic system in Ninjago was put into practice. The CDMN's only election was, however, contested as it resulted in UN-friendly politicans being put in power in a country where Anti-UNism was prevalent. The CDMNs' first prime minister was Postman, who allowed for severe UN-influence over the politics of Ninjago. The UN and the Secret UN Leader believed that the initial government would serve as a vanguard which would secure a democratic future for the country and educate the Ninjagoan people of the values of voting and participating in the democratic process.

However, the CDMN, later renamed to the State of Ninjago, faced democratic backsliding upon Jay Walker's rise to power. Walker gained the prime minister post and revived the motto heya program as well as removing certain civil rights. He also openly shared his goal of re-establishing the absolute monarchy under the rule of Kareastikuru, or his bloodline; which *ipso facto* would remove all elements of democracy in Ninjago. Walker's goals were later realized when Kareastikuru returned and established the National Government of Ninjago and later, upon winning the Ninja-UN war, founding the Second Ninjagoan Empire.