Word.ws English Dictionary

catch-allism

catch-allism noun: a position that lacks strong commitments or ideology.

Noun

catch-allism (uncountable)

  1. A position that lacks strong commitments or ideology.
    • This tendency may enhance an electoral strategy of parties which is often called catch-allism: parties seek to accomplish a wide electoral appeal aimed at vote maximization.1994, David Hanley, Christian Democracy in Europe, →ISBN, page 39
    • Not all of these are wholly independent of the parties, of course, in that at least some of the ostensibly external shocks that have impacted on parties in recent years have their origin in the initial shift towards catch-allism.2004, Peter Mair, Wolfgang C Müller, Fritz Plasser, Political Parties and Electoral Change, →ISBN, page 272

Origin of catch-allism

From catch-all + -ism.

Questions about catch-allism

What does catch-allism mean?
Catch-allism means a position that lacks strong commitments or ideology.
What part of speech is catch-allism?
Catch-allism is a noun.

Words near catch-allism in the dictionary

  1. catch-all parties
  2. catch-all party
  3. catch-all phrase
  4. catch-all term
  5. catch-all word
  6. catch-allism
  7. catch-alls
  8. catch-as-catch-can
  9. catch-ball
  10. catch-basin
  11. catch-basins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catch-allism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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