epistocracy
/ˌɛpɪˈstɑkɹəsi/
epistocracy noun: a rule by citizens with political knowledge, or a proposed political system which concentrates political power in citizens according to their knowledge.
Noun
epistocracy (countable and uncountable, plural epistocracies)
- A rule by citizens with political knowledge, or a proposed political system which concentrates political power in citizens according to their knowledge.
- So maybe it’s time to consider an alternative to democracy called epistocracy. In a democracy, every citizen gets an equal right to vote. In an epistocracy, voting power is widespread, but votes are weighted: More knowledgeable citizens’ votes count more.2016, “Can Epistocracy, or knowledge-based voting, fix the problems with democracy?”, in Los Angeles Times
- A government run by citizens with political knowledge.
Forms of epistocracy
| plural | epistocracies |
|---|---|
| alternative form | epistemocracy |
Origin of epistocracy
From Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “knowledge”) + suffix -κρατία (-kratía), from κράτος (krátos, “power, rule”).
Questions about epistocracy
- What does epistocracy mean?
- Epistocracy means a rule by citizens with political knowledge, or a proposed political system which concentrates political power in citizens according to their knowledge.
- What part of speech is epistocracy?
- Epistocracy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce epistocracy?
- Epistocracy is pronounced /ˌɛpɪˈstɑkɹəsi/ (US).
- What is the plural of epistocracy?
- The plural of epistocracy is epistocracies.
Words near epistocracy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epistocracy (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-epistocracy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “epistocracy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epistocracy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.