clericocracy

English

Etymology

From cleric +‎ -o- +‎ -cracy.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒkɹəsi

Noun

clericocracy (uncountable)

1. (rare, politics) Rule by clerics.

   Hypernym: ideocracy

   Near-synonym: theocracy

   • 1988, K. Seshadri, Marxism and Indian Polity, page 120:

     Marx in his analysis of the East India Company had already characterised the nature of the company's administration — the clericocracy.

   • 2011, Leslie Francis, The Public Significance of Religion, page 32:

     Does this mean that religions are still more attached to (hybrid forms of) theocracy, clericocracy and monocracy than to democracy, which underlies the two principles?

Related terms

• declericalize