thanatocracy

== English == === Etymology === From thanato- +‎ -cracy. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /θænəˈtɒkɹəsi/ (General American) IPA(key): /θænəˈtɑkɹəsi/ Hyphenation: tha‧na‧to‧cra‧cy === Noun === thanatocracy (plural thanatocracies) Nominal governance by a dead person, through posthumous holding of an official position of authority, or by popular veneration and lasting influence of a personal ideology; necrocracy. The carrying out of mass and organized killing as an official policy of a state. The enactment of policies held to lead, directly or indirectly, to death or an increased risk of death. A culture in which rituals relating to the dead play a unique or important role. 1978, Rosemary Radford Ruether, "Rich Nations/ Poor Nations: Towards a Just World Order in the Era of Neo-Colonialism", in Christian Spirituality in the United States: Independence and Interdependence (ed. Francis E. Eigo & Silvio Fittipaldi), Villanova University Press (1978), page 88: Exodus from Egypt means a departure from the thanatocracy where all our energies are expended on building the tombs of mummified eternal death. (figuratively) Endemic stagnation or decay. ==== Synonyms ==== (nominal governance by a dead person): necrocracy ==== See also ====