Etatism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɛˈtɑt.ɪzm/

Definitions

1. A political philosophy prioritizing state intervention in economic matters and social welfare, suggesting that governmental control is crucial for managing resources effectively
2. An ideology that supports a strong role for government in the economy, promoting state action to resolve economic and societal challenges
3. A belief system advocating for government intervention in economic realms and social services to address societal needs while ensuring efficient resource management is vital

Etymology: Ludwig von Mises gave this word its English life. In his 1944 book "Omnipotent Government," he needed a term for the growing belief that the state should direct the economy and social life, and he took the French "état" (state) and attached the suffix "-ism." The French had already been using "étatisme" for this idea, and Mises was adopting that French coinage rather than inventing a new concept, but the English form is largely his. The point of choosing it, rather than the more familiar "statism," was to signal the idea's deep roots on the European Continent, especially in France, where state direction of economic affairs had a long history. Readers in the Anglosphere, Mises suggested, had encountered the tendency less often and might not recognise how old it was there. In practice, "etatism" and "statism" are doublets: two forms of the same French-derived root that entered English by different routes and were kept side by side. The longer spelling with the acute accent, "étatisme," remains the French form that English borrowed from.