khakistocracy means military rule of a country, often in collusion with the elite and business classes. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why this word is great
KHAKISTOCRACY — [Noun] A system of governance where de facto state power is held by the military establishment in a durable, cynical compact with compliant civilian elites. Blend of khaki, referring to the color of military uniforms, and kakistocracy, from Greek kakistos ("worst") + -kratia ("rule, power"). Unlike "kakistocracy," which indicts rule by the comprehensively corrupt or incompetent, or "stratocracy," the sterile, textbook term for purely martial rule, khakistocracy precisely frames a corrupt symbiosis between the garrison and the boardroom. It is the hushed meeting in a palace between a general in tailored fatigues and a telecoms magnate in a Savile Row suit; it is the state-owned enterprise whose board is populated by retired colonels; it is the quiet rustle of banknotes accompanying the rattle of medals on a dress uniform—a regime built not on chaotic tyranny but on a cold, efficient consensus that administers the state as a joint venture for its own perpetuation.
noun
- Military rule of a country, often in collusion with the elite and business classes.