4 ms·

Got an example of a political elite ever changing things so that they have less power?

by scrrr 13y ago

gaius 13y ago
The dismantling of the British Empire.
- discardorama 13y ago
  I think the GP forgot to put "willingly" in there. The Brits, after WW2, were exhausted. India had been clamoring for independence for ~50 years. And after the war, you suddenly had a million young men in India, well trained in arms and warfare; these men would have been hard to control with force. So they had no choice. Once India fell (i.e. became independent), the dominoes started falling, and soon the sun had set on the British Empire.
freehunter 13y ago
George Washington turned down the title of king and set major restrictions on what the president could do. He set a precedent of only serving two terms (eight years), which almost every other president followed even though they didn't have to by law. The only exception was Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms but died in office. The 22nd Amendment limiting presidential terms to eight years was passed shortly after that. That's pretty much the only example I know of.
davidw 13y ago
It looks like things are improving in Myanmar, although it's too early to tell for sure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Reforms_and_transition_towards_democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Reforms_and_transition_to... Another one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy I'm not very knowledgeable about the details, but it looks like he was basically handed the keys, and worked to transition to a democracy, rather than hold power.
david927 13y ago
Why are we asking them? It's our government.
TeMPOraL 13y ago
Giving power away is a hard thing for humans in general. It's difficult enough even for parents when their children grow up.
regularfry 13y ago
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
grecy 13y ago
The minister for Queensland changed gun laws forever, knowing it would cost him his job [1]. (it did) Watch the video to see the difference between Australian and US politics. [1] http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/former-premiers-us-talk-show-appearance-goes-viral-20130425-2igbs.html http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/former-prem...
leephillips 13y ago
South Africa? The Soviet Union?

Got an example of a political elite ever changing things so that they have less power?

by scrrr 13y ago

Got an example of a political elite ever changing things so that they have less power?

gaius 13y ago

The dismantling of the British Empire.

discardorama 13y ago
I think the GP forgot to put "willingly" in there. The Brits, after WW2, were exhausted. India had been clamoring for independence for ~50 years. And after the war, you suddenly had a million young men in India, well trained in arms and warfare; these men would have been hard to control with force. So they had no choice. Once India fell (i.e. became independent), the dominoes started falling, and soon the sun had set on the British Empire.

freehunter 13y ago

George Washington turned down the title of king and set major restrictions on what the president could do. He set a precedent of only serving two terms (eight years), which almost every other president followed even though they didn't have to by law. The only exception was Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms but died in office. The 22nd Amendment limiting presidential terms to eight years was passed shortly after that. That's pretty much the only example I know of.

davidw 13y ago

It looks like things are improving in Myanmar, although it's too early to tell for sure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Reforms_and_transition_towards_democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Reforms_and_transition_to... Another one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy I'm not very knowledgeable about the details, but it looks like he was basically handed the keys, and worked to transition to a democracy, rather than hold power.

david927 13y ago

Why are we asking them? It's our government.

TeMPOraL 13y ago

Giving power away is a hard thing for humans in general. It's difficult enough even for parents when their children grow up.

regularfry 13y ago

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

grecy 13y ago

The minister for Queensland changed gun laws forever, knowing it would cost him his job [1]. (it did) Watch the video to see the difference between Australian and US politics. [1] http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/former-premiers-us-talk-show-appearance-goes-viral-20130425-2igbs.html http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/former-prem...

leephillips 13y ago

South Africa? The Soviet Union?