Corporo-cracy? No...

October 26, 2010 1:34 AM

Is there a "-cracy" word for a political system where ultimate (and repressive) power is held by Corporate entities outside of any government? Not just Monopolies or Oligopolies controlling their own markets, but the all-too-common sci-fi dystopian system...

I've had the need for a word to use in all my recent discussions/arguments about "Corporate Power" and want to know if I'm just having an extended brain fart or if the word doesn't exist... And if not, WHY NOT?

posted by oneswellfoop to law & government (6 answers total)

a plutocracy?
posted by TheOtherGuy at 1:38 AM on October 26, 2010

or the word Corporatocracy actually exists too.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 1:40 AM on October 26, 2010

Corpocracy?
posted by rhymer at 1:41 AM on October 26, 2010

Perhaps corporate republic:

A corporate republic is a theoretical form of government occasionally hypothesized in works of science fiction, though some historical nations such as medieval Florence might be said to have been governed as corporate republics. While retaining some semblance of republican government, a corporate republic would be run primarily like a business, involving a board of directors and executives. Utilities, including hospitals, schools, the army, and the police force, would be privatized. The social welfare function carried out by the state is instead carried out by corporations in the form of benefits to employees. Although corporate republics do not exist officially in the modern world, they are often used in works of fiction or political commentary as a warning of the perceived dangers of unbridled capitalism. In such works, they usually arise when a single, vastly powerful corporation deposes a weak government, over time or in a coup d'état.

posted by Rhaomi at 1:42 AM on October 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

PLUTOCRACY! Yep, I somehow banished the term from my brain, probably replaced by character names from Venture Brothers...
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:07 AM on October 26, 2010

In David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, one part of the book is set in such a society. He calls it Corpocracy -- but it practically identifies the Corp with the State.

Plutocracy as I understand it is what the wikipedia article describes as the ancient form. And the modern form (in the London City) still has an elected government, albeit with a corporate electorate.
posted by gijsvs at 5:08 AM on October 26, 2010