absolutism

en-noun

absolutism (countable and uncountable, plural absolutisms)

First attested in 1753 (in the theological sense); attested in 1830 in the political sense. From absolute + -ism, based after French absolutisme.

The element of absolutism and prelacy was more controlling in the counsels of the rival corporation.

1859, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter IV, in History of New England, volume I, page 217:

As absolutism became more consolidated in Europe, and particularly in France, such nonabsolutist states tended to define themselves in opposition to their absolutist rivals: hence, those features of their government which differed from absolutism tended to be given special prominence.

2019, John Gascoigne, Science and the State, page 54:

(political science, sociology) The principles or practice of absolute or arbitrary government; Synonym of despotism.

աբսոլյուտիզմ

political science: absolute or arbitrary government; despotism


acephalous

en-adj

acephalous (comparative more acephalous, superlative most acephalous)

more acephalous (comparative)
most acephalous (superlative)

From French acéphale, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos, “headless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”). By surface analysis, a- + -cephalous.

der

an acephalous society / community

[…] an Oecumenical Council is a whole, and a Body whereof the Pope, or he that presides in it in his place, is the Head[.] For there is no Acephalous Council, as M. Schelstrate speaks, that is to say, without a Head, calling that of Constance so in the Absence of the Pope.

1685, Louis Maimbourg, chapter 25, in Archibald Lovell, transl., An Historical Treatise of the Foundation and Prerogatives of the Church of Rome and of Her Bishops, London: Jos. Hindmarsh, pages 318–319:

A very brief acephalous interim followed the death of the dark Dictator.

1870, Richard Francis Burton, Letters from the Battle-Fields of Paraguay, London: Tinsley Brothers, Introductory Essay, p. 54:

(social sciences, political science, sociology) A system of society without centralised state authority, where power is welded amongst groups of community entities e.g. clans. Without a leader or chief.


primary

/ˈpɹaɪˌmɛɹi/

Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.

bor+

In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City.

2020 September 14, Richard H. Pildes, “The three words that can avert an election nightmare”, in CNN:

Before Americans pick a president in November, they get to pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses. […] Biden could still win New Hampshire’s primary through a write-in campaign, but the first sanctioned Democratic contest is in South Carolina in February.

2024 January 22, Zachary B. Wolf, “2024 US presidential primaries, explained”, in CNN:

(political science) A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party, or the first round of a two-round election.


direct

en-adj

direct (comparative more direct, superlative most direct)

more direct (comparative)
most direct (superlative)
darect (alternative India)

/daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt/

Borrowed from Latin dīrectus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho.
For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).

m+

direct nomination; direct legislation

(political science) Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates.


leviathan

leviathans (plural)
Leviathan (alternative)

→ Translingual: †Leviathan

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-leviathan.wav

From Middle English levyethan, levyathan, etc., from Late Latin leviathan, a transliteration of Biblical Hebrew לִוְיָתָן (liv'yatán).

The fact is that [Thomas] Hobbes is interested in neither, but concerned exclusively with the political structure itself, and he depicts the features of man according to the needs of the Leviathan.

1951, Hannah Arendt, “The Political Emancipation of the Bourgeoisie”, in The Origins of Totalitarianism (A Harvest/HBJ Book), new edition, San Diego, Calif., New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1973, →ISBN, part 2 (Imperialism), page 140:

(political science, sometimes capitalized) The political state, especially a domineering and totalitarian one as theorized by Thomas Hobbes.


kakistocracy

kakistocracies (plural)
cacistocracy (alternative)

From Ancient Greek κάκιστος (kákistos, “worst”), superlative of κακός (kakós, “bad”) + -κρατία (-kratía, “power, rule, government”) (corresponding to -cracy). The word was used, perhaps re-coined, by the English author Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) in his 1829 novella The Misfortunes of Elphin as the opposite of aristocracy (see second quotation).

der

Therefore we need not make any scruple of praying against […] those restlesse spirits who can no longer live, then be stickling and medling; who are stung with a perpetuall itch of changing and innovating, transforming our old Hierarchy into a new Presbytery, and this againe into a newer Independency; and our well-temperd Monarchy into a mad kinde of Kakistocracy.

1644, Paul Gosnold, A sermon preached at the publique fast the ninth day of Aug. 1644 at St. Maries, Oxford, Early English Books Online:

The people lived in darkness and vassalage. […] they were utterly destitute of the blessing of those "schools for all," the house of correction, and the treadmill, wherein the autochthonal justice of our agrestic kakistocracy now castigates the heinous sins which were then committed with impunity, […]

1829, [Thomas Love Peacock], “The Education of Taliesin”, in The Misfortunes of Elphin, London: Published by Thomas Hookham, Old Bond Street, →OCLC, pages 92–93:

Is ours a "government of the people, by the people, for the people," or a Kakistocracy rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?

1876 January 19, James Russell Lowell, “To Joel Benton”, in Charles Eliot Norton, editor, Letters of James Russell Lowell, volume II, part I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, published 1894, →OCLC, page 159:

Thus, the problem was not whether corruption/power abuse was allowed, but how to keep a balance between uprightness and kakistocracy.

1999, Gang Deng, “Trinary Structure: Origin, Tension and Equilibrium”, in The Premodern Chinese Economy: Structural Equilibrium and Capitalist Sterility (Routledge Explorations in Economic History), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 159:

Some nation-states have suffered what the Greeks called kakistocracy—government by the worst of men. International law can, in theory if not always in practice, keep these kakistocracies from damaging too much.

2000, Tom H. Hastings, Ecology of War & Peace: Counting the Cost of Conflict, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 101:

As we step into this world—as we enter the age of kakistocracy—we should remember one thing. This isn’t a departure from [Donald] Trump's populism. It's the foundation of it. This is what Trump campaigned on.

2016 November 18, Jamelle Bouie, “Government by the worst men”, in Slate, archived from the original on 2017-01-23:

So is there a way out of the grim place we’re in? What I believe is that while resentment can put bad people in power, in the long run it can’t keep them there. At some point the public will realize that most politicians railing against elites actually are elites in every sense that matters and start to hold them accountable for their failure to deliver on their promises. And at that point the public may be willing to listen to people who don’t try to argue from authority, don’t make false promises, but do try to tell the truth as best they can. We may never recover the kind of faith in our leaders — belief that people in power generally tell the truth and know what they’re doing — that we used to have. Nor should we. But if we stand up to the kakistocracy — rule by the worst — that’s emerging as we speak, we may eventually find our way back to a better world.

2024 December 9, Paul Krugman, “My Last Column: Finding Hope in an Age of Resentment”, in New York Times:

(political science) Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens.

The Misfortunes of Elphin
Thomas Love Peacock


empiricism

en-noun

empiricism (countable and uncountable, plural empiricisms)

ἐμπειρῐκή

practice of medicine founded on experience only

(social sciences, political science, sociology) Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc.


social engineering

Madness, from this point of view, is not finally a medical phenomenon at all, but a phenomenon of social engineering, manipulation, and coercion, and of the politically motivated labeling of deviant behavior.

1995, Daniel Berthold-Bond, Hegel's Theory of Madness, →ISBN, page 179:

From one perspective, much of what goes on in every society's day-to-day operations qualifies as social engineering. One can view child rearing, schooling, military indoctrination and any other means of mobilizing bias as social engineering without doing violence to the concept.

1996, Adam Podgórecki, Jon Alexander, Rob Shields, Social Engineering, →ISBN, page 9:

China's Golden Shield has long been a byword for internet censorship. Although easily circumvented, its main purpose is to encourage citizens' self-censorship, a large-scale social engineering project of some success.

2010 January 13, Tim Stevens, “China's cyberwar goes beyond Google”, in The Guardian:

There are certain types of social engineering that represent possible dangers. For example, you may not be aware that your ideas are being intentionally manipulated and, on another level, the manipulation itself could be dangerous.

2013, Brian Taylor, No More Suffering Fools, →ISBN, page 175:

(political science) Efforts to influence attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, in order to produce desired characteristics in a target population.

社會工程 /社会工程

efforts to influence attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale


Balkanization

Balkanization (countable and uncountable, plural Balkanizations)

Balkanizations (plural)
balkanization (alternative)
Balkanisation (alternative)

From Balkan + -ization. The term is a reference to the conflicts that the Balkan peninsula experienced in the 20th century.

(historical, chiefly political science) The fragmentation of a geopolitical region into several small states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other.

بَلْقَنَة

fragmentation of a region into several small states


polity

polity (countable and uncountable, plural polities)

From Middle French politie, from Latin polītīa, from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “polity, policy, the state”). Doublet of policy and police.

der

New polities emerged in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.

(political science, countable) A politically organized unit, especially a nation of people, a class or ingroup that governs it, or the state ruled thereby.


rollback

en-noun

rollback (countable and uncountable, plural rollbacks)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rollback.wav

The noun is a deverbal from roll back. The verb is a back-formation from the noun despite being redundant to roll back.

During the 1990s the Pope, who played such a central role in the rollback of communism, was one of the few international figures who could be heard speaking out against the new capitalist order.

2004 December 16, Seumas Milne, “The struggle is no longer against religion, but within it”, in The Guardian:

Politically, Brzezinski was a centrist, or conservative, Democrat. He criticised both the Eisenhower administration’s “rollback” policy towards communism in Europe, and the Nixon-Kissinger detente.

2017 May 28, Godfrey Hodgson, “Zbigniew Brzezinski obituary”, in The Guardian:

(political science) The strategy of forcing a change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime, or by totally annihilating an enemy's armed forces and occupying the country, as was done in World War II to Italy, Germany, and Japan.


demos

From Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos, “ordinary citizens, common people from a district, in a city-state”).

uder

When the demos took charge, law and order inevitably collapsed, or so they concluded.

2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 323:

(political science, singular or plural) The ordinary citizens of an ancient Greek city-state; hence, the common populace of a state or district (especially a democratic one); the people.


spoiler effect

(voting theory, political science) A situation where a losing alternative affects the results of some competition, such as a sporting event or election.


biokinesis

(political science) A political theory concerning the movement of populations as a basis for power.


participatory democracy

en-noun

participatory democracy (countable and uncountable, plural participatory democracies)

(political science) A form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies affecting their lives, rather than through elected representatives.


divine right

the divine right (canonical)
divine right of kings (alternative)

(Christianity, political science, philosophy) The Christian doctrine that monarchs have a God-given right to rule, that they are answerable only to God, and that rebellion is sinful.


non-intervention

non-intervention (countable and uncountable, plural non-interventions)

non-interventions (plural)
nonintervention (alternative)

(political science) The policy of a state of not intervening in the domestic affairs of another.


shadow government

shadow government (plural shadow governments)

The origin of such terms (e.g., shadow government, shadow cabinet, shadow minister, shadow portfolio) lies in the figurative metaphor of a shadow (shade) following its source object closely and in well-defined parallel. But conspiracy theorists have longed seized upon the way it sounds nefarious, as if it were meant to connote dark and sinister forces. This interpretation is also encouraged by disinformation purveyors seeking to sow societal disruption.

Meronyms: shadow cabinet, shadow minister

Cuba's two most important exile groups, after months of quarreling, met last week to form a shadow government dedicated to the liberation of their homeland.

1961 March 31, “Getting Ready”, in Time Magazine, page 24:

(political science) A government that is prepared to take control in response to certain events, especially one made up of the leadership of the largest opposition party in parliament which would assume control should the ruling party be displaced in elections.

skaduregering

government-in-waiting that is prepared to take control

conspiracy theorized
conspiracy theorized

(political science) A (real or conspiracy theorized) body of private individuals who exercise actual power behind the scenes instead of a country's or organization's public figures.


panarchy

panarchy (countable and uncountable, plural panarchies)

From pan- + -archy. Coined independently in many different contexts.

The overlapping governance networks of panarchy have facilitated a context conducive to the above competing multilateralisms.

2006, W.A. Knight, “Plurilateral Multilateralism: Canada's Emerging International Policy?”, in Andrew F. Cooper, Dane Rowlands, editors, Canada Among Nations, →ISBN, page 100:

(political science) An inclusive, multilateral system in which all parties may participate meaningfully.


nation-building

Although uniquely favored by relatively viable political institutions, India yet shares this uncertainty with a large number of countries for which independence is but a first step on the road to nation-building.

1977, Reinhard Bendix, Nation-building and Citizenship: Studies of Our Changing Social Order, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 357:

The mythologizing, carried out over many decades, granted Italian-Americans “a formative role in the nation-building narrative.”

2019 October 12, Brent Staples, quoting Danielle Battisti, “How Italians Became ‘White’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(political science) Unifying the people or peoples within a state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run.


term limit

Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution

Attorney Gordon cites no authority for his interpretation of the Twenty-Second Amendment, which is contrary to the Amendment's plain meaning. Application of the term limit turns on whether an individual has actually been elected President twice, not on beliefs or assertions about that fact. Cf. Nader v. Butz, 398 F. Supp. 390, 397 (D.D.C. 1975) ("Having been elected to [the presidency] twice, [Richard Nixon] is precluded from serving again.") That Mr. Trump has falsely asserted that he won the 2020 election is no more disqualifiying than it would be for him to proclaim that he is not a United States citizen. In other words, political grandstanding does not trigger the bar of the Twenty-Second Amendment.

2023 December 28, Shenna Bellows, “Ruling of the Secretary of State”, in State of Maine Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2023-12-29, page 15:

(politics, political science) The maximum number of terms that a person may legally serve in a particular elected office.


neorealism

neorealism (usually uncountable, plural neorealisms)

international relations
international relations

(political science) A theory of international relations based on the idea that power is the most important factor.


biopower

From bio- + power, calque of French biopouvoir, coined by Michel Foucault.

The third type of power, biopower, emerges from the eighteenth century onward, and is directed toward populations rather than individual bodies.

2015, Joe Painter, “Power”, in John Agnew, Virginie Mamadouh, Anna J. Secor, Joanne Sharp, editors, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography, Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 147:

(political science) The sum of the various techniques used by modern nation-states to control not individual subjects but their entire populations, as contrasted with traditional modes of power based on the threat of death from a sovereign.


necrocracy

necrocracy (countable and uncountable, plural necrocracies)

From necro- (“dead”) + -cracy (“power, rule”).

confix

What we call democracy, therefore, is to a considerable extent necrocracy, or a form of government by the graveyards. Old precepts and phrases are handed down from one generation to another; they become part of a nation's heritage […]

1928, William Bennett Munro, The Invisible Government: The Jacob H. Schiff Foundation Lectures Delivered at Cornell University, 1926, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Co., →OCLC, page 2:

Other activities became increasingly pressing, the Fellowship was flourishing and had plenty of younger members ready and able to take over from their elders; and I have seen too many cases of vigorous organisations gradually turning into gerontocracies and finally into necrocracies to wish ever to hold on to power myself.

1992, E[ric] L[ionel] Mascall, “Extra-Curricular Activities (1937–1962)”, in Saraband: The Memoirs of E. L. Mascall, Leominster, Herefordshire: Gracewing, Fowler Wright Books, →ISBN, page 190:

Further, even if one hundred per cent of the governed in 1789 fully supported the Constitution, the constitutional rule by the dead—one might call it necrocracy—is not democracy. Democracy requires self-government, which cannot be the dead ruling the living. Though legislators now dead passed many statutes now in force, a mere majority in the current Congress can repeal statutes but cannot amend the Constitution.

1996, Sterling Harwood, Judicial Activism: A Restrained Defense, San Francisco, Calif.: Austin & Winfield, →ISBN, page 21:

Iran might still become a democracy, but it would also be a necrocracy: government of, by and for the dead.

2005, Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East, London: Fourth Estate, →ISBN:

(political science) A form of government imposed by those who have since died.


consent of the governed

(government, political science, philosophy) A political theory in which a government or set of governments could only be deemed legitimate if it is supported by the people under which it exercises its political influence.


transitology

en-noun

transitology (usually uncountable, plural transitologies)

(political science) The study of the process of change from one political regime to another.


subjecthood

Subjecthood emphasizes obedience. Citizenship, on the other hand, recognizes moral obligations to other members of the community and emphasizes responsiveness and participation.

1998, Christopher Vincenzi, “From Subjecthood to Citizenship”, in Crown Powers, Subjects and Citizens, →ISBN, page 301:

But that should not be confused or conflated with citizenship, for, according to Jebb, "citizenship includes subjecthood, but subjecthood does not include citizenship."

2010, Sukanya Banerjee, “Introduction”, in Becoming Imperial Citizens: Indians in the Late-Victorian Empire, →ISBN, page 25:

(political science) The condition or state of a person being a subject of a nation or a monarch.


iron triangle

Over the years the defense industry has become a de facto participant in the policy-making process. As in other areas dominated by powerful corporate interests, a policy sub-government or “iron triangle” has emerged. […] The creation of an “iron triangle” takes time and active efforts of its participants. All three sides work to maintain it as economic circumstances change.

1981, Gordon Adams, The Iron Triangle: The Politics of Defense Contracting, New York: The Council on Economic Priorities, →ISBN, pages 24–25:

They see the raids as evidence that the “iron triangle” of bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen that in 50 years has turned Japan into the world's second-largest economy has broken down when there is nothing to replace it.

1996 December 7, Velisarios Kattoulas, International Herald Tribune, “Corruption Scandals Rack Tokyo's ‘Iron Triangle’”, in International Herald Tribune, →ISSN:

(US politics, political science) The policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy (executive, sometimes called “government agencies”), and interest groups or lobbyists.


postmaterialism

Someone's placing higher importance on nonmaterialist values such as autonomy and self-expression, as opposed to materialist values such as economic and physical wellbeing.

(political science) The theory that political preferences in contemporary affluent (mostly Western) societies are increasingly based on such values, especially with regard to the leftist spectrum, in such a way that parties move away from traditional Marxist materialism.


horseshoe theory

Referring to the curved shape of a horseshoe, whose two ends come close to meeting.

There is some evidence, contradictory as it is, that if the PDS [Party of Democratic Socialism] did not exist, then the consequence would be a strengthening of the DVU [German People's Union], the NPD [National Democratic Party of Germany] and the Republikaner […] This does not mean, however, that I subscribe to the ever-present but increasingly orthodox horseshoe theory of political analysis […]

2000, Peter Thompson, “The PDS: Marx's Baby or Stalin's Bathwater?”, in Peter Barker, editor, The GDR and its History: Rückblick und Revision (German Monitor; 49), Rodopi, →ISBN, page 103:

Some political scientists have suggested a “horseshoe theory,” with the center as the rounded top of a horseshoe and the two fringes on either end, but inclined toward one another. This image, while evocative, isn’t quite right. In the archive, it looks more like a circle.

2022 December 14, Kathleen Belew, “The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline”, in The Atlantic:

(political science) The theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political continuum, in fact closely resemble one another.


kratocracy

From Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos, “strength, might”) + -cracy.

uder

[…] as the cover for plutocracy is replaced by timocracy and by the one-man kratocracy which we call dictatorship.

1950, Wm. Pepperell Montague, Great Visions of Philosophy: Varieties of Speculative Thought in the West from the Greeks to Bergson, page 109:

To many outside observers, Turkey is a unique country that seems perpetually balancing on a steep precipice between kratocracy and democracy, between Islam and capitalism, or even more melodramatically, between East and West.

2012, Cory Blad, Banu Koçer, Political Islam and State Legitimacy in Turkey: The Role of National Culture in Neoliberal State-Building in International Political Sociology, volume 6, page 36

For, without its feeling of compassion, a kratocracy, […]

In Praise of a Roman-American Rhapsody in 2013 (originally 1997), Francis Boni, A Life Song Between Two Worlds: Revised and Expanded, iUniverse LLC, page 37

(political science) A government established by the forceful or cunning seizure of power and maintained by strength.


transformationalism

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-transformationalism.wav

While the supplanted transformationalism was not specifically Neo-Confucian, a central prop of the newly elevated emperorship affirmed a Han-dynasty contention that Zhu Xi had opposed.

2004, Gerald F Gaus, Chandran Kukathas, Handbook of Political Theory, →ISBN, page 330:

So long as late Qing transformationalism based on allegiance to Confucian values prevailed, the grounds nationalists were seeking for uniting those identified as "Chinese" against those identified as "Manchus", "Mongols," "Uigurs," "Tibetans," and even Chinese Muslims.

2005, Joshua A. Fogel, The Teleology of the Modern Nation-state: Japan and China, page 144:

As both Yu Yonghe and Huang Shujing recognized, racialist discourse was incongrous with the Confucian ideal of transformationalism, for the claim that barbarians possessed distinct inborn natures, or fixed moral characters, suggested that they were unassimilable.

2006, Emma Teng, Taiwan's Imagined Geography, →ISBN, page 115:

(political science, historical) The belief in the transformative power of Confucian culture as a superior system that can be universally applied to all people.

The difference is still significant, however, in circumstances where the possibility of widespread adherence to an extensive set of obligations is unlikely, for "transformationalism" would support the watering down of the regime in exchange for broader membership, in the belief that the operation of the regime will, over time, increase the convergence of interests.

2001, Mark J. Valencia, Maritime Regime Building, →ISBN, page 3:

The third perspective of globalisation, transformationalism, recognises the contingency of action and the historicity of structure as enabling and constraining globalisation.

2002, Reza Banakar, Max Travers, An introduction to law and social theory, page 313:

Martell (2010) focuses on hyper-globalization, scepticism, transformationalism and postmodernism/post structuralism and constructivism. We do not consider transformationalism, a hybrid approach between globalism and scepticism, in this chapter due to space limitations (although this approach has a growing following).

2011, Heather Savigny, Lee Marsden, Doing Political Science and International Relations, →ISBN, page 246:

Thus, whilst liberal transformationalism is right to ask questions about the poverty, inequality, and the democratic deficit generated by neoliberal globalisation, the answers it proposes cannot seriously resolve these issues because they are intrinsic to the capitalism question that liberal transformationalism does not ask.

2014, Tom Chodor, Neoliberal Hegemony and the Pink Tide in Latin America, →ISBN, page 29:

(political science) A political theory that emphasizes assimilation as a process of global cultural convergence.


rentier state

(political science) A state that derives all or much of its national revenue from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients.


affective partisan polarization

en-noun

affective partisan polarization (uncountable)

(political science, US) the process of steady growth of the mutual dislike between Republicans and Democrats since the 1970s


LTV

LTV (countable and uncountable, plural LTVs)

labor theory of value
labor theory of value#English

(economics, political science) Initialism of labor theory of value.


crypto-anarchism

The rise of crypto-anarchism might be good news for individual users – and there are plenty working on ways of using this technology for decent social purposes – but it’s also bad news for governments.

2017 June 4, Jamie Bartlett, “Forget far-right populism – crypto-anarchists are the new masters”, in The Observer:

(computing, political science) The belief that cyberspace should exist decentralized and without authority, achievable through cryptography.

Krypto-Anarchismus

discipline concerned with communication security

(political science) The realization of anarchy in cyberspace.


Gandhism

Another critic observes Gandhism dreads the 'onslaught of technology' because it creates unemployment.

1945, Mohanlal Lallubhai Dantwala, Gandhism Reconsidered, page 28:

In trying to curb modern political Machiavellianism, some of the more consistent humanists find this analogy in the ethical ideas and the political practice of Gandhiism.

1972, Aleksandr Ivanovich Titarenko, Morality and politics;: Critical essays on contemporary views about the relationship between morality and politics in bourgeois sociology, page 142:

(political science, philosophy) The philosophy and principles of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, encompassing the broad tenets of upholding truth, pacifism, and nonviolent activism; also rarely used for Gandhian economics.


Duverger's law

Attributed to Maurice Duverger, French sociologist who published on the subject in the 1950s and 1960s.

Out of that work emerged Duverger’s Law, which holds that single-member districts tend to produce two-party systems. […] And in the long run, the inexorable machinery of Duverger’s Law will ensure that the Patriot Party is folded back into the Republican Party.

2021 January 28, Michael Tomasky, “Why a Trump Third Party Would Be a Boon for Democrats”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

proportional representation
proportional representation

(political science) The principle that plurality-rule elections (such as first past the post) structured within single-member districts tend to favour a two-party system, and that the double-ballot majority system and proportional representation tend to favor multipartyism.


stasiology

Borrowed from French stasiologie, coined in 1951 by French jurist, sociologist and politician Maurice Duverger (1917–2014) from stase (“stasis”) + -iologie (“-ology, indicating the study of a particular subject”), because of the way the opposition of political parties tends to prevent governments from making dramatic changes.

The development of the science of political parties (it could perhaps be called stasiology).

1954 [1951], Maurice Duverger, translated by Barbara North and Robert North, Political Parties, their Organization and Activity in the Modern State, Methuen & Co.; New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, translation of Les partis politiques (in French), →OCLC:

In this study, in the light of latest trends in stasiology, an attempt is made to examine the potential role of political parties in initiating, directing and managing social, economic and political changes in Himachal Pradesh.

1977, Ranbir Sharma, Party Politics in a Himalayan State, New Delhi: National Publishing House, →OCLC, page v:

The surprising development in this regard is that, despite all these difficulties, students are engaged in making an empirical study of party politics with the aim of refining the discipline of stasiology.

1982, J[agdish] C[handra] Johari, “Party Politics”, in Comparative Politics, 3rd rev. and enl. edition, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, →OCLC, page 318:

political parties
political party#English

(political science, rare) The study of political parties.


prescriptionist

en-adj

prescriptionist (comparative more prescriptionist, superlative most prescriptionist)

more prescriptionist (comparative)
most prescriptionist (superlative)

Much of the disagreement between the prescriptionist and descriptionist views turns on the question of compensation among generations.

1996, James P. Bruce, Hoe-sŏng Yi, Erik F. Haites, Climate Change 1995, →ISBN:

Educators often come into the profession with a certain view of language that is more prescriptionist in nature (Edwards, 1982; Taylor, 1983; Trudgill, 1975; Williams, 1976).

2008, Maria Elisa Paredes, Language Attitudes, Linguistic Knowledge, and the Multicultural Education of Pre-Service Teachers, →ISBN:

Teaching the English language may be their bread and butter, but they are unable to enforce the notion of a 'standard prescriptionist English.'

2014, Stuart Nicholson, Is Jazz Dead?: Or Has It Moved to a New Address, →ISBN, page 174:

(political science, linguistics) Relying on historical precedent rather than current usage (to determine rights or correctness).


form of government

en-noun

form of government (plural forms of government)

(political science) The system by which a state or community is controlled, as for decision-making or choice of rulers.


intergovernmentalism

From intergovernmental + -ism or inter- + governmentalism.

There is a slew of treaties, organizations and agencies that form the scaffolding of the emerging global governance structure regulating and superintending everything from nuclear weapons to the fishing of halibut, and all of them embody electionless intergovernmentalism.

2016 January 21, Leigh Phillips, “Electionless inter-governmentalism über alles”, in ROAR Magazine:

(political science) An approach to political integration that regards states, and national governments in particular, as the primary actors in the integration process.


deimperialization

deimperialisation (alternative)
de-imperialization (alternative)

Perhaps the British should study Turkey; God knows, we need models for de-imperialisation.

1972, Angela Carter, “The Back of Beyond”, in Shaking a Leg, Vintage, published 2013, page 253:

The implosion of the USSR itself, beginning in 1991 after the loss of its east European dominions, in effect constituted an enormous deimperialization process of a system based on eight decades of ‘internal terror and fear of external enemies’.

2007, Bertil Nygren, The Rebuilding of Greater Russia:

(political science) The process of deimperializing; the dismantling or formal ending of an empire.


labour value theory

(economics, political science) Alternative form of labor theory of value.


labor theory of value

labour theory of value (alternative)
labor value theory (alternative)
labor-value theory (alternative)
labour value theory (alternative)
labour-value theory (alternative)

socially necessary human labor time
socially necessary labour time

(economics, political science) The theory, usually associated with Marxian economics, that freely reproducible goods obtain their value from socially necessary human labor time.


labour theory of value

(economics, political science) UK standard spelling of labor theory of value.


labor-value theory

labor value theory
labor value theory#English

(economics, political science) Alternative form of labor value theory.


labour-value theory

labor-value theory
labor-value theory#English

(economics, political science) UK standard spelling of labor-value theory.


Andersonian

(political science) Of or pertaining to Benedict Anderson (1936–2015), Chinese-born Irish political scientist and historian.


action theory

rational choice theory
rational choice theory

(political science, sociology) Any theory that centres its gaze, analysis, and interpretation around human action. E.g. rational choice theory, phenomenology, etc.


rational choice theory

(social sciences, economics, political science, sociology) A theory that argues individual decisions are based on that individual's understanding of the costs and benefits of a given action, shaped throughout the assumptions of self-interest and rational actors.


power projection

power projection (countable and uncountable, plural power projections)

(political science, geopolitics) In international relations, the capacity of a state to deploy and sustain forces outside its territory.


nation-builder

(political science, geopolitics) A person who takes part in nation-building; a member of a state who takes the initiative in developing the national community through government programs.


parapolitics

(political science) Political practices and arrangements that are unacknowledged and that intend to misinform or obfuscate a hidden agenda.


autarchism

(political science) A political philosophy that promotes the principles of individualism and the moral ideology of individual liberty and self-reliance.


videomalaise

(political science, dated) A correlation purported to exist between decreasing public trust in political institutions and societal exposure to political incivility (such as behavior by politicians which violates social norms), theorized to be exacerbated by the popularity of televised news.


sultanism

From sultan + -ism. Introduced by Max Weber.

(political science) An extreme form of authoritarian government characterized by the personal presence of the ruler in all elements of governance.


Russophrenia

This is classic Russophrenia, believing that Russia is about to threaten the world while on fiscal life-support.

2015 June 30, Bryan MacDonald, “Russophrenia - an illness in need of a cure”, in RT:

In one astute observation, Western media exhibit a “Russophrenia” – “a condition where the sufferer believes Russia is both about to collapse, and take over the world.”

2018 July 18, Mikhail Molchanov, quoting Bryan MacDonald, “The Trump-Putin summit: Russophrenia explained”, in Asia Times:

In some psychiatric sense it is very close to the more specific Russophrenia phenomenon, where Russia is simultaneously about to collapse and about to overtake the US, and the combined West.

2019 April 9, Bill Totten, “Has the US Lost Its Military Supremacy Over Russia?”, in BillTottenWeblog (Google Groups):

The Russian FIMI ecosystem produced and distributed satirical videos attacking Western values and exposing the purported reasons why Russia is superior to Western democracies. The European External Action Service (EEAS) Data team detected this new trend, including a video highlighting the Western “Russophrenia” and supposed attempts to cancel Russian culture, an advertisement inviting EU citizens to move to Russia, and commercial videos mocking EU citizens on the energy crisis.

2022, Global Affairs Canada, G7 Rapid Response Mechanism Annual Report 2022, page 10:

(neologism, political science, geopolitics, derogatory) The belief or idea that Russia is simultaneously about to collapse, and also take over the world.


bespredel

Borrowed from Russian беспреде́л (bespredél, “lawlessness; arbitrary rule”), from бес- (bes-, “without”) + преде́л (predél, “limit”).

af

In the Russian Far East, for example, vory took it on themselves to punish not only criminals unaffiliated with their organizations but also those members of their own society who committed acts of bespredel, extreme violence that was forbidden under the code—for example, brutally attacking or killing a woman or a child. […] Crime committed by outsiders is seen as bespredel because the territory “belongs” to the gang. As always with the gang, moral reasoning goes hand in hand with pragmatic considerations. The members admitted that the gang fights bespredel largely because it does not want additional police attention in its territory.

2015, Svetlana Stephenson, “6. THE GANG IN THE COMMUNITY”, in Gangs of Russia. From the Streets to the Corridors of Power, Cornell University Press, →DOI, pages 152–153, 154–155:

When asked of his understanding of bespredel at the bazaar, or mafia-related lawlessness, Adyl, a similarly aged trader originally from Osh confirmed what most other traders stated: there is not that kind of bespredel at the bazaar.

2017, Regine A. Spector, “6. Becoming Trading Elders and Local Authorities”, in Order at the Bazaar. Power and Trade in Central Asia, Cornell University Press, →DOI, page 150:

(political science) A fundamental breakdown in the established norms of a society, due to its citizens no longer having a collective understanding of the customs, values or institutions of that society; particularly in a Russian or post-Soviet context.


deimperialize

en-verb

deimperialize (third-person singular simple present deimperializes, present participle deimperializing, simple past and past participle deimperialized)

deimperializes (present singular third-person)
deimperializing (participle present)
deimperialized (participle past)
deimperialized (past)

(political science, transitive) To dismantle or formally end an empire.


strategy of tension

en-noun

strategy of tension (plural strategies of tension)

(political science) A political policy wherein violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed.


dependency theory

dependency theory (countable and uncountable, plural dependency theories)

Dependency theory is a body of ideas about the role of developing countries within the global economic system, about the nature of development, and about patterns of unequal power. It dominated much Latin American social science (including the analysis of the region's international role) in the 1960s and 1970s.

2010, Mark Bevir, editor, Encyclopedia of Political Theory, A–E, SAGE, →ISBN, page 370:

(economics, political science) A set of ideas to explain the inequalities between developed countries and developing countries, originally conceived in the context of Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, stressing the interdependence of those countries in a capitalist global economy.


superpresidential

en-adj

superpresidential (comparative more superpresidential, superlative most superpresidential)

more superpresidential (comparative)
most superpresidential (superlative)

… after President Boris Yeltsin dissolved parliament in September 1993 and won a referencum on a new constitution that eliminated the previous sustem of checks and balances in favor of a new superpresidential order.

1996 October 17, Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, editors, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy, Johns Hopkins University Press, page 111:

The superpresidential regime is therefore not stable; it can drift in any direction—changing its rhetoric, its goals, its balance of forces, and its major ideas.

2002 January 24, M. Crawford Young, Mark Beissinger, editors, Beyond State Crisis? Post-Colonial Africa and Post-Soviet Eurasia in Comparative Perspective, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, page 232:

The 1993 Russian Constitution is frequently described as “superpresidential” because of the considerable powers it gave to the head of state.

2018 June 6, Brian D. Taylor, The Code of Putinism, Oxford University Press, page 4:

(political science) Of or relating to a form of republican government in which the president holds unusually extensive powers over the executive and legislature, surpassing those in standard presidential or semi‑presidential systems.