Abdication

Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one) is the act of renouncing and resigning from a formal office, especially from the supreme office of state. (Although in Roman law the term was applied to the disowning of a family member, as the disinheriting of a son.) A similar term for an elected or appointed official is resignation.

Modern abdications

Historically, if a monarch abdicated it was seen as a profound and shocking abandonment of royal duty. As a result, abdications usually only occurred in the most extreme circumstances of political turmoil or violence. This has changed in a small number of countries: the monarchs of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Cambodia have abdicated as a result of old age. Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein recently made his son regent, in an act which amounted to an abdication in fact if not in law.

Related Topics:
Netherlands - Luxembourg - Cambodia - Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein - Regent

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~