In the February 2002 issue (p, 68) of Discover Magazine there is a word new to me, not yet seen in AWADtalk.
It refers to former ruler of Zaire, Mobutu as a "kleptocratic ruler".
I was unable to find it in my dictionary, but quicky found in several sites on Internet, defined as:
"A kleptocratic state may arise as a predatory hierarchy from a state of pure anarchy." This was from a paper entitled "Institutionalized corruption and the Kleptocratic State " by Joshua Charap and Christian Harm.
Sounds like a person stealing the sovereignty of the anarchic masses.
It does sound like a thief taking something from the masses--but is he aware of what it is he takes?
Dear WW: You bet your sweet bippie he is. He has to be the shrewdest guy in the country to get to the top and stay there.
I think that "kleptocratic" is a great word to describe what I perceive the situation in Zimbabwe to be. What's going on there would certainly appear to be an extreme example of state theft, and I've heard some horror stories about it on TV and the radio from people who've been through it. It's reminiscent of the kind of heavy-handed government taxation process characterised by the rulers of Norman England in the 12th and 13th centuries which gave rise to the myth of Robin Hood. But updated to the "needs" of today, of course!
I believe that a state that taxes heavily without reinvesting those taxes in the public good could also be considered mildly kleptocratic - rule by institutionalised theft. And most countries have had governments like that at one time or another. New Zealand in the 1970s immediately comes to mind.
If I recall correctly, it was also used to describe the Russian communist government 1921 - 1989. The state took all production away by force rather than with the consent of the governed, and that was the context in which I first saw the word used, probably in The Economist. It tends to like words like that.
As I understand it, "kleptocracy" applies to a government that is run to line the personal pockets of the ruler and his clique. (Not disputing your broader concepts, CK, but I understand the term to be a description of the narrower situation.) Admittedly, I could well be mistaken on this.
Edit at 23:59: was responding to CK, and have edited to correct typo that may have made that unclear. Was speaking solely to the definitional question, and in no way disagree with the posts immediately above and below as they concern the facts of the particular regimes.
> As I understand it, "kleptocracy" applies to a government that is run to line the personal pockets of the ruler and his clique.
Another example is the regime implemented by Sharkey and Pimple throughout the Shire whilst the Fellowship were abroad upon their quest.
(Thought I'd just be topical!)
stales
Rule by someone who stole an election?
