Oz's ABC Radio, Classic FM Breakfast Show has a Word of the Day segment every weekday. Why does this word seem so relevant in Oz, and somewhere else I could name?

Helen

Tuesday 13 January 2004

Kakistocracy

Kel Richards writes:

"Kakistrocracy" means "the government of a nation by its worst citizens". This is one of a family of words naming different types of government. The most familiar of these words is "democracy" meaning government by the "demos" – or "the people". There's also "plutocracy" – meaning "rule or government by the wealthy"; "aristocracy" (which originally mean "rule or government by the best citizens"); "autocracy" meaning a self-sustained ruler (that is, an absolute ruler); and so on. All of these words were originally constructed from Greek stems, with the added Greek suffix "kratia" meaning "rule" or government. However, some of the more modern coinages no longer stick to the old rule of using Greek words, and so you'll find a word such "meritocracy" – meaning "government by people selected on the basis of merit": this being the exact opposite of "kakistocracy". The first part of that word, by the way, comes from the Greek kakistos – "the worst". Some people would say that "kakistocracy" means government by professional politicians. You may very well think that, I couldn't possibly comment.