Why The Clans Need Democracy by Willowwing

Willowwing argues the clans should embrace democracy

*small spoilers for the end of A Light In The Mist*
Hey guys, Willowhawk/Willowstar here (but you can just call me Hawk if you’d like!). This is my first time making a blog post, although I’ve been reading this website for a couple of weeks now. I’m so glad I found it, I’m super happy to have found such an awesome online Warriors fan community! This article will be about why I think the Clans need to establish a democratic system to elect leaders and possibly deputies as well.
1. New Territory For The Books
This would be a completely new and original direction to take the books in. Yes, there have been political conflicts, but they’ve never been the main focus of an arc- the arcs have just been about the Clans fighting some malicious force, such as Ashfur in The Broken Code, Twolegs in The New Prophecy, Tigerstar and Scourge in The Prophecies Begin, and many more. It would be refreshing for the authors to write about this completely new issue, and it would make for a very interesting read.
2. The Seeds Are There
The seeds for democracy in Warriors have already been planted, they just need to be allowed to grow. At the end of ALITM, the Clans start discussing changing the warrior code after the struggle against Ashfur revealed its flaws, setting up the next arc to be about that. They discussed putting in a system by which a Clan could remove their leader if they did something wrong, which is hinting at democracy. Also, voting has been used in Warriors before- for example, when the Ancients were deciding whether or not to leave the lake, and when the Tribe was deciding whether or not to leave the mountains, cats cast stones in a particular place to indicate their choice. This system could be brought back.
3. It Would Greatly Benefit Them
Honestly, how many cats’ deaths would have been prevented if the cats had had their say in who is leading them? Not many ShadowClan cats were too thrilled about the terrible, evil Brokenstar leading them! Of course, the Clans could get it wrong sometimes, and safeguards would have to be put in place to ensure no candidate could threaten or manipulate cats to force them to vote for them, but overall, making decisions as a group would help avoid bad cats getting power, and would help discourage political assasinations to gain power, such as Brokentail and Cloudpelt and Tigerclaw and Redtail.
4. It Is Right And Just
Democracy is the fairest way to run pretty much any system or society- it is how you ensure that everyone has a say. Of course, apprentices (except for older medicine cat apprentices, since they are apprenticed for longer than warriors are) and kits wouldn’t be allowed to vote, only adult cats, just as in real life. It’s not fair that the leader is the only one who gets a say. For example, when Tallstar wanted to change his heir from Mudclaw to Onewhisker at the last possible moment, his Clanmates should’ve been able to hold an emergency election to choose between the two of them. Deputies could be elected independently, or they could campaign alongside a leader candidate as their runningmate, or they could use a slightly less democratic but still not bad system of having the leader pick the deputy once they are elected. If StarClan sees that a cat has been elected unfairly, they could refuse to grant the cat their nine lives like with Nightstar/Nightpelt, or tell the Clans’ medicine cat(s) to not take them to the Moonpool.

In conclusion, I hope that the Erins consider having the cats start electing their leaders. It would be an amazing plotline to read about, it would be fair, it has already been alluded at, and it would greatly advance the Clans to being a better society. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! May StarClan light your path, always!
– Willowstar