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Author: kjnoren

Oct 28th 2013 at 1:56:30 PM

The first example isn't really the most interesting here, though it should be mentioned that in the case of Wettin, it wasn't having power that was corrupting, but more the goal of power. Basically, he sought power so hard that he allied himself to lots of extremist groups, making it impossible to compromise with Stearns ("the loyal opposition"), and then managing to drive off his own moderates.

As for the second, Stearns turned the most militant and extreme of his allies (or perhaps "allies") loose on the anti-Semite arch-conservative (for 17th century values of conservative) groups of Germany, as retaliation for a deed they didn't do or were involved with at all.

The thing with DrunkWithPower is that the trope name itself implies a loss of rationality - it's part and parcel of being drunk. Sergeant Colon in ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'' is a nigh-perfect example of that. That means the trope name in and of itself excludes a large part of the corrupting mechanisms behind having and using power.