Editing Statism (section)

{{Short description|Doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree}}
{{Redirect|Statist}}
{{party politics}}

In [[political science]], '''statism''' or '''etatism''' (from [[French language|French]], ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the [[political authority]] of the [[State (polity)|state]] is [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimate]] to some degree.{{sfn|Bakunin|1990}}{{sfn|Cudworth|2007}}<ref name="barrow">{{cite book |last=Barrow |first=Clyde W. |title=Critical Theories of State: Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Post-Marxist |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-299-13714-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3zo8mCl580C |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> This may include [[Economic policy|economic]] and [[social policy]], especially in regard to [[Tax|taxation]] and the [[means of production]].<ref>{{harvp|Bakunin|1990}}; {{harvp|Cudworth|2007}}; {{harvp|Kvistad|1999}}; {{harvp|Levy|2006|p=469}}; {{harvp|Obadare|2010}}</ref>

While in use since the 1850s, the term ''statism'' gained significant usage in [[Politics of the United States|American political]] discourse throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Opposition to statism is termed [[anti-statism]] or [[anarchism]]. The latter is usually characterized by a complete rejection of all [[Hierarchical organization|hierarchical]] rulership.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Edward |section=Anarchism |title=The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=31 March 2005 |isbn=978-0-415-32495-3 |editor-link=Edward Craig (philosopher) |title-link=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=[[Routledge]]}}</ref>