different between racism vs democracy

English

Etymology

1928, after French racisme (1902). See race, -ism for more.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??e?s?zm?/

Noun

racism (usually uncountable, plural racisms)

1. Belief that there are distinct human races with inherent differences which determine their abilities, and generally that some are superior and others inferior.
   • 2011, Jane H. Hill, The Everyday Language of White Racism (?ISBN), page 1987:

     But other kinds of talk and text that are not visible, so called covert racist discourse, may be just as important in reproducing the culturally shared ideas that underpin racism.

2. The policies, practices, or systems (e.g. government or political) promoting this belief or promoting the dominance of one or more races over others.
   • 2013, Tyler T. Schmidt, Desegregating Desire (?ISBN):

     In “Crazy for This Democracy” (1945), Hurston critiques the US government's racism at home and abroad, including its silence on the anticolonial movements in Africa.

3. Prejudice or discrimination based upon race or ethnicity; (countable) an action of such discrimination.
   • 2007, Joseph Godson Amamoo, Ghana: 50 years of independence:

     For, if racism against non-whites is morally wrong and unjustifiable, then how can racism against whites be morally right and justifiable?

   • 2016, Bernard Guerin, How to Rethink Human Behavior (?ISBN):

     This was partly true, but the biggest thing stopping him was that he had tried going to a college in Adelaide before and grew tired of the little racisms and discrimination that he got there.

Usage notes

• Usage has begun to shift in the 21st century to particularly focus on structural power dynamics that underlie racist institutions and policies rather than personal prejudices.
• Some speakers use the term racism loosely to refer to prejudice or discrimination based not upon race but upon other factors; this is nonstandard:

• The term reverse racism has been used to denote personal racial prejudice by a group that is or has been oppressed/disempowered, against a more powerful group. Some argue that this distinction does not need to be made and advocate that this be called, simply, racism, while others argue that the term racism should not be used at all in such cases, as racism is distinguished from racial prejudice by being supported by institutions and social structures.
• For many speakers, the term racism implies conscious belief or behavior, but this is not always the case.

Synonyms

• (racial discrimination): See Thesaurus:racism

Hypernyms

• (racial discrimination): See Thesaurus:prejudice

Coordinate terms

• (racial discrimination): See Thesaurus:prejudice

Derived terms

Related terms

• antiracist, anti-racist
• racist

Translations

See also

References

Further reading

• racism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• racism at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Ramics, cimars

English

Etymology

From Middle French democratie (French démocratie), from Medieval Latin democratia, from Ancient Greek ?????????? (d?mokratía).
Surface analysis: demo- (“people”) +? -cracy (“rule”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??m?k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??m?k??si/

Noun

democracy (countable and uncountable, plural democracies)

1. (uncountable) Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives (representative democracy).
   • 1866, J. Arthur Partridge, On Democracy, Trübner & Co., page 2:

     And the essential value and power of Democracy consists in this,—that it combines, as far as possible, power and organization ; THE SPIRIT, MANHOOD, is at one with THE BODY, ORGANIZATION. [....] Democracy is Government by the People.

   • 1901, The American Historical Review, American Historical Association, page 260:

     The period, that is, which marks the transition from absolutism or aristocracy to democracy will mark also the transition from absolutist or autocratic methods of nomination to democratic methods.

   • 1921, James Bryce Bryce, Modern Democracies, The Macmillan Company, page 1:

     A century ago there was in the Old World only one tiny spot in which the working of democracy could be studied. A few of the ancient rural cantons of Switzerland had recovered their freedom after the fall of Napoleon, and were governing themselves as they had done from the earlier Middle Ages[...]. Nowhere else in Europe did the people rule.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 24:

     Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form.

2. (countable, government) A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.
   • 1947, Edwin L. James, "General Marshall Raises the Ideological Issue", The New York Times, March 16, 1947:

     Of course, the Russians think it is something else because they say the Russians have a democracy and it is plain that their government is not what the Americans regard as a democracy.

   • 2003, Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, W. W. Norton & Company, page 13:

     In 1900 not a single country had what we would today consider a democracy: a government created by elections in which every adult citizen could vote.

3. (countable) A state with a democratic system of government.
   • 2018, Yascha Mounk, “America Is Not a Democracy”, The Atlantic, March 2018:

     The United States was founded as a republic, not a democracy.

   • 2002, Victor G. Hilliard, "The Role of Human Resource Development in South African Public Service Reform", in: Administrative Reform in Developing Nations, Praeger, page 179:

     After almost four decades of authoritarian rule, South Africa became a democracy in April 1994.

4. (uncountable) Belief in political freedom and equality; the "spirit of democracy".
   • 1918, Charles Horton Cooley, “A Primary Culture for Democracy”, in Publications of the American Sociological Society 13, p8

     As states of the human spirit democracy, righteousness, and faith have much in common and may be cultivated by the same means...

   • 1919, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, The Spirit of Russia: Studies in History, Literature and Philosophy, Macmillan, p446

     It must further be admitted that he provided a successful interpretation of democracy in its philosophic aspects when he conceived democracy as a general outlook on the universe... In Bakunin's conception of democracy as religious in character we trace the influence of French socialism.

Synonyms

• democratism (the principles or spirit of a democracy)

Coordinate terms

• (a form of government): monarchy, aristocracy, dictatorship

Derived terms

• arsenal of democracy
• superdemocracy

Related terms

• democrat
• democratic

Translations

References

• democracy at OneLook Dictionary Search
• democracy in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "democracy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 93.
• democracy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.