Tuesday, December 7, 2010

What makes the Glorious Revolution unique?

The Glorious Revolution was an expression of a centuries-old process in England where Parliament became the supreme legislative authority.  Since the Magna Carta had first restricted the power of the monarch, political power had been more and more favoring the elected legislature.  Parliament, as an embodiment of the elected legislature, began to strengthen the concept of the Rule of Law, one tenant of which is that no one, including the monarch, is above the law.  Back in the Middle Ages, the monarch was not only the executor, but the creator of law; by the late 1600's those governmental powers were separated between monarch and legislature, and the Rule of Law became supreme, which even allowed for the transition of monarchical power to be effected without bloodshed. The "glory" was in that law supplanted war.

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