Power Vacuum
Definition
A power vacuum is a situation where there is an absence or lack of authority, leading to instability and potential for new powers to emerge.
Analogy
Think of a power vacuum like a game of musical chairs. When the music stops (the authority disappears), everyone scrambles to find a seat (gain control). The one who gets the seat first becomes the new leader.
Related terms
Autocracy: A system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control.
Anarchy: A state of society without government or law.
Coup d'etat: A sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force.
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