-crat, -cracy, -cratic, -cratism, -cratically, -cracies

(Greek: a suffix; to govern, to rule; government, strength, power, might, authority)

Good laws derive from evil habits.

—Macrobius

Two characteristics of government are that it cannot do anything quickly, and that it never knows when to quit.

—Jeremy Thorpe
geocratic (adjective), more geocratic, most geocratic
A reference to land-movements that reduce the area of the Earth's surface covered by water: Geocratic action occurs when land expands or continents enlarge, and oceanic areas decrease in size.
gerontocracy (s) (noun), gerontocracies (pl)
A system of government in which senior citizens are chosen as rulers: A gerontocracy consists of a governing group of elders or older people, apparently because they are more experienced.
A member of a gerontocracy or an elderly citizen who has been elected to rule a country.
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Samuel is the ruling leader of his gerontocracy.

gerontocratic (adjective), more gerontocratic, most gerontocratic
Concerning the system of government consisting of elderly men: In the dictionary regarding different kinds of governements, Christina came across a gerontocratic one that was seemingly run by old men who had more experience in life, were wise, and perhaps possessed more knowledge of the world.
graocracy (s) (noun), graocracies (pl)
A government by an old woman or old women: Alice thought that a graocracy would be a good idea because women knew a lot more about family life and its values that were the foundation of life in her country.
gynandrarchy (s) (noun), gynandrarchies (pl)
1. A social organization among insects differing from gynarchy: Gynandrarchy interested Mary and she found out that the male insect takes part in establishing the colony.
2. Rule or government by a man and a woman, or by both men and women: Doug thought that a form of gynandrarchy would provide a way of having complete equality of both men and women when making important decisions for the benefit of all citizens.
gynarchy (s) (noun), gynarchies (pl)
A government by a woman or women: Jackie thought that a gynarchy, in which women would be the ruling class, might be a great idea, and she would run for president!
gynecocracy (s) (noun), gynecocracies (pl)
A government or the rule of a country by women; a society with such leadership: Germany is one example of a nation that had a gynecocracy, led by Angela Merkel, and Great Britain with Queen Elizabeth II until September 2022 when she died.
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The legal government of a country by a woman.
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gynecocratic (adjective), more gynecocratic, most gynecocratic
Pertaining to a government based on the supremacy of a woman, or by a male relative: The country of Estonia has a gynecocratic political administration led by Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of that nation.
gynocracy, gynecocracy, gyneocracy (s) (noun); gynocracies; gynecocracies; gyneocracies (pl)
A government by a woman or women: A form of gynocracy is a country in which women are legally capable of the supreme command, for example the former Queen in Great Britain.

A gynocracy is sometimes used in a depreciative sense as "petticoat rule".

gynocratic (adjective), more gynocratic, most gynocratic
Referring to a form of government controlled by women: Mrs. Smart asked her students, "Who would like to live in a country that is gynocratic which is ruled by females of all ages?"
hagiocracy (s) (noun), hagiocracies (pl)
A government or sovereignty of people esteemed to be holy; theocracy: A hagiocracy might be distrusted because of the ruling influence of the priesthood and its inflexible obedience to the law and a rigid hostility to irreligious traditions.
hierocracy (s) (noun), hierocracies (pl)
1. A government by church clergy or priests; ecclesiastical rule: Hierocracy includes the doctrine that the Pope holds secular rule as well as spiritual power.
2. A body of religious clergy that rules a place or country: Gregory was brought up by the hierocracy of the Catholic Church and kept up the strong relationships to the church officials.
hierocratic (adjective), more hierocratic, most hierocratic
Descriptive term for a government made up of ruling priests: Mr. Big read a book about a hierocratic country that was led by religious dignitaries or ecclesiastics.
ideocracy (s) (noun), ideocracies (pl)
A government founded on the theory of abstract ideas: A government based on ideocracy follows a monistic ideology and can be either a populist or a totalitarian type of ruling.
idiocracy (s) (noun), idiocracies (pl)
A government that is run by idiots: Mr. Watson sometimes thought that the government in his country should be termed to be an idiocracy because the elected party often behaved like fools or morons.

Cross references of word families related directly, or indirectly, to: "master, lead, leading, ruler, ruling, govern": -agogic; agon-; arch-; dom-; gov-; magist-; poten-; regi-; tyran-.