performative authoritarianism

noun

A display of authoritarian force by a government, particularly when unnecessary, as a means to convince or coerce the media and the population into believing that the government has control in matters of law and order.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounperformative authoritarianism (uncountable)
  1. uncountablegovernmentA display of authoritarian force by a government, particularly when unnecessary, as a means to convince or coerce the media and the population into believing that the government has control in matters of law and order.
    1 more example

    2020 July "Michael Arceneaux" "https://www.essence.com/op-ed/donald-trump-operation-legend/" I also have doubts that the distinction between what constitutes “performative authoritarianism” and regular authoritarianism matters to the people who have been reportedly bashed over the head, tear-gassed, and in select cases, hauled off to undisclosed locations.

Cite this entry
APA

performative authoritarianism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performative%20authoritarianism

MLA

“performative authoritarianism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performative%20authoritarianism. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “performative authoritarianism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performative%20authoritarianism.

Source: performative authoritarianism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.