Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A policy or practice of treating or governing people in a fatherly manner, especially by providing for their needs without giving them rights or responsibilities.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Paternal care or government; specifically, excessive governmental regulation of the private affairs and business methods and interests of the people; undue solicitude on the part of the central government for the protection of the people and their interests, and interference therewith.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Polit. Science) The theory or practice of paternal government. See Paternal government, under
paternal .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the
treatment of people in afatherly manner, especially bycaring for them but sometimes being stern with them
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the attitude (of a person or a government) that subordinates should be controlled in a fatherly way for their own good
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I would like to know what "paternalism" is supposed to mean as it applies to the state.
Against Paternalism, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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The term paternalism has its roots in the notion of paternal administration ” government as by a father to administer in the way a beneficent father raises his children.
The Principle of Beneficence in Applied Ethics Beauchamp, Tom 2008
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Boonton, what you call paternalism is enforced by coercion whether the first claim on a worker's paycheck is paid to himself or somebody else.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Your suggestion that IRAs and 401k's are a form of paternalism is rooted in the assumption that the money came from the government, and that it is gifting those account-holders thru tax breaks.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Your suggestion that IRAs and 401k's are a form of paternalism is rooted in the assumption that the money came from the government, and that it is gifting those account-holders thru tax breaks.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Boonton, what you call paternalism is enforced by coercion whether the first claim on a worker's paycheck is paid to himself or somebody else.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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If the objective of this type of paternalism is to protect people from rash judgments, then people could, in their more "rational" moments, buy protection from private sources against making poor choices.
A Case for Paternalism?, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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To the degree that 401K's produce better 'returns' than SSI then the degree of paternalism is all the higher since everyone else is taxed just that much more to compensate for the lost revenue.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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This combination of selfishness and paternalism is both shocking and repugnant.
Matthew Yglesias » Sherri Berman: Progressives Must Believe in Change 2009
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In my previous posts I've explained why I believe paternalism is sometimes acceptable even though market solutions are usually perferable.
Defending Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
100000232338334 commented on the word paternalism
"I can take a lot of paternalism, but I was about up to my ears." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris
February 5, 2011
jwjarvis commented on the word paternalism
ignoring someone's autonomy
June 14, 2016