devolution

Noun

1. A rolling down.
2. A descent, especially one that passes through a series of revolutions, or by succession.
3. The transference of a right to a successor, or of a power from one body to another.
4. Degeneration.
   • It is quite disheartening to witness the devolution of our nation's political discourse over the past several years.
   • He is the place where the devolution from Heaven and the evolution from earth meet. - 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London:...

   Synonyms: degradation

   Antonyms: evolution development

   Coordinate Terms: revolution

5. The transfer of some powers and the delegation of some functions from a central government to local government (e.g. from the U.K. parliament to Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly).
   • The question of whether England should receive devolution like Scotland and Wales have has dogged British politics for years.
   • Governments like devolution because it gives ministers someone else to blame for problems. - 2020 November 4, Philip Haigh, “Cracks and divisions over funding for public transport”, in Rail, page 55:
   • By the 1974 general election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were polling at 30% and there were growing calls for devolution. - 2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 179: