Dolan's credentials as upholder of the faith have been especially burnished by the bishops' ongoing conflicts with President Barack Obama.

WSJ: NY Cardinal Dolan a 'happy warrior' for church

The agency used to be a strict upholder of the economic orthodoxy.

CNN: Fund of New Ideas

Germany sees itself as the upholder of a set of rules that attempt to enhance governments' credibility, by limiting their borrowings and placing appropriate risk on the shoulders of private-sector investors.

WSJ: Lessons for Euro From Two Revolutions

Having said that, it is worth also saying that Mr Sharif is an implausible upholder of the democratic ideal, that the country now needs an impartial judiciary more than ever before, and that this episode is not the end of the story: although, at 50, Pakistan might be considered ripe for a crisis of the mid-life variety, this one had more to do with growing up than growing old.

ECONOMIST: Showdown in Pakistan