statism

American  

[stey-tiz-uhm] / ˈsteɪ tɪz əm /

noun

1. the principle or policy of concentrating extensive economic, political, and related controls in the state at the cost of individual liberty.

2. support of or belief in the sovereignty of a state, usually a republic.

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statism British  

/ ˈsteɪtɪzəm /

noun

1. the theory or practice of concentrating economic and political power in the state, resulting in a weak position for the individual or community with respect to the government

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Other Word Forms

• antistatism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of statism

First recorded in 1600–10; state + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

statism

Mr Dowden also denied criticism the alert was an example of nanny statism as he appeared on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuennssberg programme.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2023

Her answer to her book’s title — “What Ails France?” — is a “righteous consensus,” the statism that “asphyxiates the country’s potential.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2022

Each tactic smells of nanny statism, a metaphor embellished by the fact that the formerly straw-punctured lids of Starbucks iced lattes are being replaced with a high-design, disposable iteration of a cup for babies.

From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2018

It was a strangely ahistoric question; many of Goldwater’s ideas hewed closely to a well-established American distrust of statism that goes back all the way to the nation’s founding.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2017

When it comes to rhetoric, the modern establishment passionately rejects statism.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 29, 2014