democratatorship

English

Etymology

Blend of democracy +‎ dictatorship.

Noun

democratatorship (plural democratatorships)

1. (informal) A dictatorship which pretends to be a democracy.
   • 1954 July, Robert L[isle] Lindsey, “Israel's Coming Crisis Over "Jewishness": The Rebellion Against the Religio-Ethnic State”, in Commentary, volume 18, number 1, New York, N.Y.: The American Jewish Committee, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17, column 2:

     Aleph admits that Israel is trying to develop genuinely democratic institutions but, because of her compromises with ethnic religion, the new state can be described at best as a "democratura," or "democratatorship"!

   • 2008, Mark Mazower, Hitler's Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe, London: Allen Lane, →ISBN, page 573:

     Yet such men regarded parliamentary democracy as a sham 'democratatorship' (Demokratur), believed the multi-party system had to be abolished and wanted somehow to reunify the country with the assistance of like-minded fascists abroad.