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>For instance, in the US Civil War, the splintering could be described as devolution. But it certainly wasn't decentralizing power to the slaves. it was decent
by nyolfen 7y ago
>For instance, in the US Civil War, the splintering could be described as devolution. But it certainly wasn't decentralizing power to the slaves.
it was decentralizing in the sense that secession was meant to grant political authority to local elites. 'devolution' just sounds like a moral judgment, which while fair is not very useful for these purposes.
- mikeash 7y agoIn what way does it sound like a moral judgement?
- nyolfen 7y agodevolution implies a return to a previous, lower level of sophistication. since the US was not previously split into two regional political structures, it's not an accurate descriptor, so it sounds more like an attack on the legitimacy of such an order. critiques of the legitimacy of the confederacy are typically moral in nature.
- mikeash 7y agoI thought it just meant to delegate power from a higher level of government to more local governments. I don’t recall ever seeing it used to imply any sort of backward movement.
- nyolfen 7y agoha! you're right, i'd never come across the term and thought it was simply being used as the inverse of evolution. i rescind.
- mikeash 7y agoFair enough. This stupid language can be confusing.
- leetcrew 7y agoyou're kinda both right. in the specific context of governance, it means what you said with no particular negative connotation. in more general use, it is often used to mean a transition to some more degenerate state. you can see this in the more commonly used "devolve". as an aside, it's interesting to note that a similar thing happens with the word "degenerate". usually it means inferior, primitive, etc., but in mathematics it has no such connotation (eg, a degenerate triangle where the vertices are collinear).
- nwah1 7y agoDevolution is a term in political science that refers to the ceding of power from central authorities to local authorities. I'm distinguishing that from the general term of decentralization, because from an individualist viewpoint, devolution can result in a consolidation of power. If an autocratic regime secedes from a large democratic republic, for instance. EDIT: I see you've already retracted the comment. Nevermind :)