electocracy
Etymology
From elect + -ocracy.
electocracy means A political system in which people can elect their government but cannot participate directly in governmental decision making. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 100 out of 100.
Why “electocracy” is a great word
ELECTOCRACY — [Noun] A political system in which citizens elect their government but have little to no direct participation in governmental decision-making between elections. From elect (from Latin ēlēctus, past participle of ēligere, "to pick out, choose") + -ocracy (from Greek -kratia, "power, rule"). Unlike "democracy," which implies the constant, diffuse influence of the people, or "representative democracy," which suggests ongoing accountability, an electocracy reduces participation to a brief, transactional event. It is the ballot cast and then forgotten, the policy shaped in distant committees without your input, and the citizen turning off a debate they cannot affect—a formal shell of consent that hollows out the substance of power.
noun
- A political system in which people can elect their government but cannot participate directly in governmental decision making.