mobocracy
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun Government by the mob or populace; ochlocracy; governing power exercised or controlled by the disorderly classes.
- noun The mob; the populace; the common crowd; the uneducated or lawless class in a community.
Examples
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Carlyle called democracy 'mobocracy' and considered it a mere bad piece of social and political machinery, or, in his own phrase, a mere 'Morrison’s pill,' foolishly expectÂed to cure all evils at one gulp.
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Many of the framers of the Constitution feared what they called 'mobocracy,' a pejorative euphemism for democracy.
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Hendrik Ibsen, an advocate of early European democratization, became discouraged over what he termed 'mobocracy' in which sluggish leaders allowed mass stampedes over individual rights. The close of his play 'Enemy of the People' celebrates those who challenge the mob, stating, 'The strongest man in the world is the man who can stand alone.'
Note
'Mobocracy' is attested from 1754, and is made up of 'mob,' which is from the Latin 'mobile vulgus,' fickle common people, and '-cracy,' from the Greek 'kratos,' rule, power.
