Power vacuum

Vacuum of power, vacuum of authority, vacancy and acephaly (acephaly b> in South America) is a term used in politics that means the absence of a ruler, leader or Government, caused by different reasons. It is one of the several meanings of anarchy.

Etymology

The concept is literally translated into English as power vacuum. The power vacuum occurs in several possible situations:

• the weakening of the power figure,
• the relative strengthening of a previously submitted group,
• the death or disappearance of the figure in power,
• a fragile balance between different groups in conflict.

There is a saying that "there is never a power vacuum for long." Examples of this are drug trafficking and corruption. When that authority does not exist, the subjugated groups will immediately assume that vacant role, until they cannot for reasons inherent to their lack of organization or direction, or are removed by their competitors or some other authority. superior. It may be through the return of previous authority, a new authority that replaces the previous one, or cannibalism between groups for supremacy.

Concepts

Political science and political history

In political science and political history, it is an analogy between a physical vacuum and the political condition "when someone in a place of power has lost control of something and no one has replaced them." The situation can occur when a government It has no identifiable central power or authority. The physical analogy suggests that in a power vacuum other forces will tend to "rush in" to fill the vacuum as soon as it is created, perhaps in the form of an armed militia or insurgents, military coup, warlord or dictator. The term is also used in organized crime when a crime family becomes vulnerable to competition.

The hereditary or statutory order of succession or effective succession planning are orderly ways of resolving succession issues in positions of power. When such methods are not available, as in failed dictatorships or civil wars, a power vacuum arises, causing a power struggle involving political competition, violence, or (usually) both. A power vacuum can also occur after a constitutional crisis in which large portions of the government resign or are removed, creating an unclear succession.

Historical examples include the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, the death of Vladimir Lenin in the Soviet Union, and the decline in power of the United Kingdom and France in the Middle East after the Sinai War or Suez Crisis..

In the course of the treasure voyages (1405-1433), the Chinese Empire under the Ming dynasty was the dominant political and military force in the Indian Ocean. However, in 1433, the Chinese withdrew their treasure fleet and left a great void in the region.

In 2003, when the United States led a coalition to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the Iraq War, the absence of an Iraqi opposition bloc at war with government forces meant that once the Baath Party was removed there were no local elements to support it. the hand to immediately assume the now vacant administrative positions. For this reason, Paul Bremer was appointed by the United States government as acting head of state to oversee the transition.

In other Western-led interventions, such as in Kosovo (1999) and Libya (2011), where the initial justification in each case was a "humanitarian issue", there was an active opposition that fought on the ground to overthrow the governments relevant (in the case of Kosovo, this meant removing state forces from the desired territory rather than expelling the government itself). Subsequently, successor entities immediately took power in Libya and Kosovo.

Power vacuums generally occur in failed states, sometimes called fragile states, where the state has lost the power to prevent its citizens from forming states within existing ones, such as in Transnistria of post-Soviet Moldova.

Parliamentary law

In disciplinary procedures under parliamentary law, the motion to declare the presidency vacant, declare the vacancy of the president or vacancy process is used as a measure in the event of the lack or breach of duties of the president of a deliberative assembly, when the rules allow it. It is usually combined with a motion to elect a new president.

In Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (2011) this type of motion allows the occupant of the position to be sanctioned if he is not the regular president of a company, in which case It is a matter of privilege that affects the assembly. If the offender is the regular president, the motion to declare the president vacant cannot be used. However, the assembly could temporarily remove the chair from the meeting using a suspension of the rules. The organization's bylaws would determine how to permanently remove the president.

The Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure (1969) establishes that the procedure is to bring charges against the president for negligence in the performance of his office or to terminate his mandate by modifying the statutes with due notification of all members; Any of these methods requires two-thirds of the vote.

The Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure (2000) indicates that "a president elected by the house may be removed by a majority vote of all the elected members, who will elect and qualify a new president pro tempore; When there is no fixed term, a president will hold office at the pleasure of the body or until a successor is elected and qualified.

An attempt was made to depose Joseph Gurney Cannon as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 1910 and another against John Boehner in 2015 using this motion.