ethnocracy

1 9.9

A government where one ethnic group holds most political power and excludes others

noun
/ˌɛθnəˈkrɑːsi/

Offensive

: etnocracia

Critics argue that an ethnocracy can lead to social unrest as other ethnic groups feel marginalized.

That's a weird thing for an ethnocracy to be about, right?

Examples

Yiftachel, O. Israeli Society and Jewish-Palestinian Reconciliation: 'Ethnocracy' and its Territorial Contradictions, Middle East Journal, 51(4): 1997, pp. 505-519.

Academic text (2006)
The policies implemented by the government reflected the realities of an ethnocracy, prioritizing one ethnic group.
That's a weird thing for an ethnocracy to be about, right?

Megyn Kelly
These liberals are mostly "Israelis" and support that faraway socialist ethnocracy "Israel."

Blog text (22)
It is a dichotomy that is as dangerous as it is deceptive, making it seem that the only choices are either a geographically untenable Jewish democracy or a demographically untenable Jewish ethnocracy.

Blog text (30)
In an ethnocracy, the ruling ethnic group may make decisions that favor their own community over others.

Antonyms

multiculturalism

17 5.5

A belief or policy that people from different cultures live together with equal rights

inclusiveness

7 3.8

Making everyone feel welcome and treating them fairly

How Exclusive

majoritarianism

Formal

1 9.1

ethnocracy

Offensive

1 9.9

favoritism

21 3.9

pluralism

11 7.2

Surface Forms

ethnocracy singular

ethnocracies plural

Morphology

ethnocracy = ethno + cracy

The word is built from the classical combining form ethno- and the suffix -cracy, but these elements are not transparent to an average B1 learner without prior knowledge of learned vocabulary.

Etymology

Ethnocracy joins the parts ethno- meaning 'people' or 'nation' and -cracy meaning 'rule' or 'power', the same ending you see in democracy. So an ethnocracy is a system where one ethnic group holds the power and rules over others.