Pseudocracy (pseudo + democracy)
“Pseudocracy” (pseudo + democracy) has been infrequently used for many years by several independent sources. H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote in a parody of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” (1922) called “Waste Paper” (1923):
But I can’t learn to spell pseudocracy.
Because there ain’t no such word.
“Three Pillars of Pseudocracy” was published in National Liar in 1995, explaining that pseudocracy “is government of the lies, by the lies, and for the lies.” “Seven Types of Pseudocracy –- ‘pseudocracy’ being ‘the rule of falsehood’ that corrupts our polity” was published in 2012. A 2012 YouTube video is a Greek-American short film titled #Pseudocracy.
“What looks like a democracy but smells bad?” by David Aaronovitch was published in The Times (London) on April 3, 2014. Aaronovitch wrote that Russia is a “pseudocracy — a political system that has the formal appearance of a democracy, but in which the substance of democracy is gradually eroded until the vote itself is almost the only thing left.”
Wikisource: Waste Paper (1923)
Waste Paper:
A Poem of Profound Insignificance
by H. P. Lovecraft
(...)
Aroun’ mah heart you hab cast a spell.
But I can’t learn to spell pseudocracy.
Because there ain’t no such word.
Politics and Language
Seven Types of Pseudocracy
March 28, 2012 — O.
With a tip of the cap to William Empson’s renowned literary study, Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), we list here Seven Types of Pseudocracy–”pseudocracy” being “the rule of falsehood” that corrupts our polity. (Wild Bill and I had more to say about these and other aspects of the pseudocracy in “When Did We Start Just Making Shit Up? Origins of U. S. Pseudocracy,” a paper presented to the Western Political Science Association meeting in Portland, Oregon, last week.
YouTube
2012 Greek America Foundation Short Film Contest: #Pseudocracy
gafoundation
Published on Apr 4, 2012
#Pseudocracy
Submitted by Philippos Balabanos
Reshaping reality, 140 characters at a time.
Paradox Point
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
From the Liar: Three Pillars of Pseudocracy
From the annals of the National Liar
V2#2, October 31, 1995
Three Pillars of Pseudocracy
Pseudocracy is government of the lies, by the lies, and for the lies; it is where yes becomes no, up becomes down, bad becomes good, and true becomes false. Naturally pseudocracy is paradoxical; double-think is how it (un) works.
Pseudocracy, being a form of government (albeit the worst one) has three manifestations; via the Sword, the Coin, or the Pen – that is, by force, by trade, or by dialog. Pseudocracy corrupts each of these, via: ...
The Times (London)
What looks like a democracy but smells bad?
David Aaronovitch
Last updated at 12:01AM, April 3 2014
Answer: a country that gives people a vote but deals ruthlessly with dissent and blames foreigners for its problems.
Brian John Spencer
3 April 2014
[Russia is a] pseudocracy — a political system that has the formal appearance of a democracy, but in which the substance of democracy is gradually eroded until the vote itself is almost the only thing left.
David Aaronovitch (@DAaronovitch) (Here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article4052580.ece)
Twitter
Ben Mitchell
@bmitchellwrites
Great new term used by @DAaronovitch ‘Pseudocracy:’ the formal appearance of a democracy but with its substance gradually eroded. #Chavez
10:21 AM - 3 Apr 2014