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Triumvirate |
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Other countries · Atlas Politics portal |
The term triumvirate (from Latin, "of three men") is commonly used to describe a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals. The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case. The term can also be used to describe a state with three different military leaders who all claim to be the sole leader of the state.
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One of the most notable triumvirates formed in the history of China was by the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) statesmen Huo Guang (d. 68 BC), Jin Midi (d. 86 BC), and Shangguan Jie, following the death of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC) and the installation of the child emperor Zhao.
Despite the Three Excellencies—including the Chancellor, Imperial Secretary, and irregularly the Grand Commandant—representing the most senior ministerial positions of state, this triumvirate was supported by the economic technocrat and Imperial Secretary Sang Hongyang (d. 80 BC), their political lackey. The acting Chancellor Tian Qianqiu was also easily swayed by the decisions of the triumvirate.1
The Three Excellencies existed in Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) as the Chancellor, Imperial Secretary, and Grand Commandant, but the Chancellor was viewed as senior to the Imperial Secretary while the post of Grand Commandant was vacant for most of the dynasty. After Emperor Guangwu established the Eastern Han (25–220 AD), the Grand Commandant was made a permanent official while the Minister over the Masses replaced the Chancellor and the Minister of Works replaced the Imperial Secretary. Unlike the three high officials in Western Han when the Chancellor was senior to all, these new three senior officials had equal censorial and advisory powers. When a young or weak-minded emperor ascended to the throne, these Three Excellencies could dominate the affairs of state. There were also other types of triumvirates during the Eastern Han; for example, at the onset of the reign of Emperor Ling of Han (r. 168–189), the General-in-Chief Dou Wu (d. 168), the Grand Tutor Chen Fan (d. 168), and another prominent statesman Hu Guang (91–172) formed a triumvirate nominally in charge of the Privy Secretariat, when in fact it was a regent triumvirate overseeing the affairs of state and Emperor Ling.2
The title was revived a few times for (short-lived) three-headed political 'magistratures' in post-feudal times.
When the French revolutionaries turned to several Roman Magistrature names for their new institutions, the three-headed collective Head of State was named Consulat, a term in use for two-headed magistratures since Antiquity; furthermore it included a "First Consul" who was not an equal, but the de facto solo head of state and government- a tyrannical position Napoleon Bonaparte chose to convert openly into the First French Empire.
Prior to Napoleon and during the Terror Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just, and Couthon, as members of the governing Committee of Public Safety, were purported by some to have formed an unofficial triumvirate. Although officially all members of the committee shared equal power the three men's friendship and close ideological base led their detractors to declaim them as 'triumvirs' which was used against them in the coup of 9 Thermidor
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google has referred to himself, along with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as part of a triumvirate, stating, "This triumvirate has made an informal deal to stick together for at least 20 years".
In the Roman Republic (1849), the title of two sets of three joint chiefs of state in the year 1849:
Venezuela: according to the Federal Constitution of 1811 the executive power was vested in "three individuals" (1810-1811).
Argentina had two triumvirates:
The United Provinces of New Granada, now present day Colombia, and Panama, were headed by two triumvirates in the period known as the Foolish Fatherland.
In the present Dominican Republic (eastern part of formerly Spanish Hispaniola island), twice (in a long list of styles, basically juntas, some also of three) :
State of New York: "three men in a room" (currently Sheldon Silver, David Paterson, and Joseph Bruno)citation neededThe word has been used as a term of convenience, though not an official title, for other groups of three in a similar position :
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007) |
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