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Status quo |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
Status quo is a Latin term meaning the current, or existing state of affairs. 1 To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are. The related phrase status quo ante means "the state of affairs that existed previously."2
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In 12th-century diplomatic Latin, the original sentence was in statu quo res erant ante bellum "in the state in which things were before the war". This gave rise to the shorter form status quo ante bellum "the state in which (it was) before the war", indicating the withdrawal of enemy troops and restoration of power to prewar leadership, as well as other variations, such as status quo itself.
Arguing to preserve the status quo is usually done in the context of opposing a large, often radical change. The social movement is a great example of the status quo being challenged. The term frequently refers to the status of a large issue, such as the current culture or social climate3 of an entire society or nation.
Politicians sometimes refer to a status quo. Often there is a policy of deliberate ambiguity, referring to the status quo rather than formalizing the status. An example of political ambiguity is the political status of Germany. Clark Kerr is reported to have said, "The status quo is the only solution that cannot be vetoed," meaning that the status quo cannot simply be decided against; action must be taken if it is to change.
Sometimes specific institutions are founded to actively maintain the status quo. The United Nations, for example, was intended to help solidify the peaceful international status quo that immediately followed World War II.
In Israel, the term refers to an informal agreement conducted in 1947 between the secular leadership of the Zionist movement in Palestine and leaders of the Orthodox Jews, which created a framework for the establishment of the country. This agreement lays out ground rules for the relationship between state and religion in four major issues: Shabbat, education, Kashrut, and matrimonial law. It has been more or less maintained throughout the country's existence. It might also refer to the arrangement formalized in 1852 for the division of custodianship among a number of Christian communities for various important Christian holy sites of the Holy Land.
In episodic entertainment, particularly United States TV sitcoms, the "status quo" is nearly always restored at the end of an episode, giving each episode an effectively self-contained plot or story. This assures that the following episode may begin from the same starting point, eliminating the need for the viewer to have knowledge of prior plot elements or to experience particular episodes in the correct order. This has been an essential rule of nearly all episodic TV shows since their inception, with all drastic changes usually happening in the premiere or finale of a given season, allowing the creative team to set up a "new" status quo. In recent years, however, this rule has softened, as even many sitcoms have started to develop stories and deepen character relationships over the course of a season.
This restoring of the status quo was parodied in the Simpsons episode The Principal and the Pauper where despite the seemingly irrevocable revelation that the school principal Seymour Skinner is an impostor, a contrived ending returns everything to how it was before. Unlike most status quo restorations, where a solution is simple and logical, this specific example involves use of deus ex machina, a highly unlikely and illogical solution to restore status quo.
This was also used in a very popular Disney channel movie, High School Musical as a song.4
"And by the way, it's not about making money, it's about taking money. Destroying the status quo, because the status is not quo." — Dr. Horriblecitation needed
"Their [the Republicans’] pledge is to the status quo, and today there is no status quo." – John F. Kennedy5
"The status quo is the only solution that cannot be vetoed." — Clark Kerr6
"In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up. In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future. In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo. In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history." — Barack Obama, one week before the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election7
"Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status." — Laurence J. Peter8
"Status quo, you know, that is Latin for the mess we're in." — Ronald Reagan9
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