proportionalismn.
/prəˈpɔːʃn̩əlɪz(ə)m/, /prəˈpɔːʃn̩l̩ɪz(ə)m/, /prəˈpɔːʃənl̩ɪz(ə)m/, /prəˈpɔːʃ(ə)nəlɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /prəˈpɔrʃənlˌɪz(ə)m/, /pərˈpɔrʃnəˌlɪz(ə)m/ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [noun] > elements > proportionalism
proportionalism1854
1854 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circle Sci., Chem. 34 The laws of definite chemical proportionalism.
2.
a. An arrangement or system in which the components or constituent parts of something are dealt with in accordance with their relative proportions; proportionate treatment.
ΚΠ
1878 Amer. Socialist 31 Oct. 350/3 The essentials are..that the results of their industry be equitably distributed..[and] that they have their reward according to the average labor-time standard of ‘proportionalism’.
1904 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 1 108 Our ideal must be a more exact proportionalism.
1963 I. Stravinsky & R. Craft Dialogues & Diary 60 The many changes of tempo in Arcana involve, because of metrical proportionalism, few changes of beat.
1985 A. Williams in Broadcasting & Politics in W. Europe 89 This is the crucial issue, not the established administrative form of the public corporation or a measured proportionalism in the programme.
b. Politics. Proportional representation; the adoption or advocacy of a system of proportional representation.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > right to vote at elections > [noun] > system of representation
proportional representation1870
PR1885
proportionalism1885
1885 Contemp. Rev. Feb. 252 A sneaking kindness for proportionalism.
1900 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 15 86 Proportionalism, only, assures the preponderance to the party which is numerically strongest.
1954 B. North & R. North tr. M. Duverger Polit. Parties ii. iii. 377 In all three P.R. replaced a modified majority system (second ballot in Switzerland and Norway, some features of proportionalism in Denmark).
1997 Independent (Nexis) 24 May 14 This..is especially true in the French [electoral] system, a two-round hybrid of proportionalism and first-past-the-postism.
c. Christian Church. Chiefly in Catholic theology: an ethical system that takes into consideration the context or consequences of an action when judging its morality.
ΚΠ
1981 Jrnl. Relig. 61 116 Pan-proportionalism when used in the stead of a fully enunciated method can serve as a cover for unexplained methodological shifts.]
1982 W. E. May in Philos. & Med. 2 141 The criticism that proportionalism is a kind of extrinsicism is based on the fact that for proportionalists no human choice and act is morally evil because it is the sort or kind of choice and act that it is.
1993 Christian Cent. 20 Oct. 1004/3 The pope's criticism of ‘proportionalism’—the weighing of goods and evils in morally ambiguous situations such as life-threatening pregnancies—is a case in point.
2005 T. W. Ogletree in Blackwell Compan. to Relig. Ethics 40 Proportionalism stresses the quest for optimal balance in ordering competing values in concrete situations.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1854