The Word Spy for 10/06/2003 -- declinism

[Paul McFedries]

declinism (dee.CLYN.iz.um) n.

The belief that something, particularly a country or a political or 
economic system, is undergoing a significant and possibly 
irreversible decline.
--declinist n., adj.

Example Citation
---------------------------------
The declinists, we might say, will always be with us. Wherever anyone 
believes in progress, someone, possibly the same one, believes in 
decline. Declinism emerges today from the triumphalism of the right: 
In our greatness, conservatives say, there is much to lose, and many 
who threaten us. So, too, does it emerge from the pessimism of the 
left: Power corrupts, and the corrupt will get their comeuppance. At 
present, both impulses--triumphalist and pessimistic, chest-beating 
and self-lacerating--are on the upsurge. So too, then, declinism.
--Laura Secor, "That sinking feeling," The Boston Globe, September 
14, 2003

Backgrounder
---------------------------------
Declinism has been called the "apocalypse soon" school of 
international relations. The word was coined in 1988 by Samuel P. 
Huntington (see the first use, below), but the noun "declinist" 
appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, where a citation from 1831 
mentions the "doctrine of the decline of science" and labels one of 
its proponents as "the leader of the Declinists." The opposite is 
"triumphalism," which originally (circa 1964) referred to excessive 
or blind pride in the achievements of one's religion or church, but 
now has a broader mandate in the language (for example, excessive or 
blind pride in the achievements of one's country).

Example Citation #2
---------------------------------
Nearly every sentiment and idea that Franzen relays about the fallen 
preeminence of literature has been expressed before, and better. No 
one needs to be reminded for the umpteenth time that Dickens was a 
popular sensation and that the audiences that once clamored at the 
docks for news of Little Nell now queue at the multiplex or 
congregate in cyberspace. Like Broadway, the fabulous invalid, the 
serious novel has seemed poised to breathe its last ever since 
electricity entered the home. As a cultural analyst, Franzen is 
simply the latest to join the chorus line of declinism: Gore Vidal 
has been signing the novel's death certificate for a half-century.
--James Wolcott, "Advertisements for Himself," The New Republic, 
December 2, 2002

First Use
---------------------------------
In 1988 the United States reached the zenith of its fifth wave of 
declinism since the 1950s. The roots of this phenomenon lie in the 
political economy literature of the early 1980s that analyzed the 
fading American economic hegemony and attempted to identify the 
consequences of its disappearance. ...

Although predominantly of a liberal-leftist hue, declinist writings 
reflect varying political philosophies and make many different 
claims. In general, however, they offer three core propositions.

First, the United States is declining economically compared to other 
market economy countries, most notably Japan but also Europe and the 
newly industrializing countries. The declinists focus on economic 
performance and on scientific, technological and educations factors 
presumably related to economic performance.

Second, economic power is the central element of a nation's strength, 
and hence a decline in economic power eventually affects the other 
dimensions of national power.

Third, the relative economic decline of the United States is caused 
primarily by its spending too much for military purposes, which in 
turn is the result, in Kennedy's phrase, of "imperial overstretch," 
of attempting to maintain commitments abroad that the country can no 
longer afford.
--Samuel P. Huntington," The U.S. -- Decline or Renewal?," Foreign 
Affairs, December 1, 1988

See Also 
---------------------------------
bads:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/bads.asp

boomsayer:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/boomsayer.asp

dread merchant:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/dreadmerchant.asp

hyper-power:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/hyper-power.asp

panic merchants:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/panicmerchants.asp

soft power:
http://www.wordspy.com/words/softpower.asp

Subject Categories
---------------------------------
Business - Economics:
http://www.wordspy.com/index/Business-Economics.asp

The World - Government:
http://www.wordspy.com/index/TheWorld-Government.asp

The World - Politics:
http://www.wordspy.com/index/TheWorld-Politics.asp

Words About Words
---------------------------------
English is a language that simply cannot be fixed, not can its use 
ever be absolutely laid down. It changes constantly; it grows with an 
almost exponential joy. It evolves eternally; its words alter their 
senses and their meanings subtly, slowly, or speedily according to 
fashion and need.
--Simon Winchester, English author, The Meaning of Everything, 2003

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
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"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'