power politics
noun
plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: politics based primarily on the use of power (such as military and economic strength) as a coercive force rather than on ethical precepts
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web No longer a government in exile, the crowd was full of former Obama and current Biden officials, a who’s who of Democratic power politics. 
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2022 Frenetic is maybe the best way to describe the HBO series, which returned for a second season this week, a series seemingly bent on taking young workplace power politics and boofing it with a mountain of cocaine. Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 2 Aug. 2022 Some also accuse Democrats of playing power politics and, over the longer term, abandoning low-income white voters, leaving many disillusioned with the political system and vulnerable to Trump’s breed of populism. Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022 Professor Alexander Mirtchev, a Distinguished Professor of Government at George Mason University, and Vice Chairman of The Atlantic Council, has been looking at these issues of energy power politics for years. Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 4 May 2022 Great-power politics are a thing of the past, and so on and so on, examples of a worldview based on a liberal determinist view of history that is, like all determinist views of history, nonsense. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 25 Mar. 2022 Given the danger that Russia, a state that puts power politics above economic efficiency, would use that leverage as a way to influence the direction of German foreign policy in the event of further adventurism from the Kremlin, this was unwise. Jordan Mcgillis, National Review, 10 Mar. 2022 Vladimir Putin’s invasion has exposed the reality of power politics, in which competing blocs of free and despotic states are again driving history. Aaron Rhodes, WSJ, 3 Mar. 2022 It’s not imperialism; this is great-power politics. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2022 See More
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2022 Frenetic is maybe the best way to describe the HBO series, which returned for a second season this week, a series seemingly bent on taking young workplace power politics and boofing it with a mountain of cocaine. Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 2 Aug. 2022 Some also accuse Democrats of playing power politics and, over the longer term, abandoning low-income white voters, leaving many disillusioned with the political system and vulnerable to Trump’s breed of populism. Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022 Professor Alexander Mirtchev, a Distinguished Professor of Government at George Mason University, and Vice Chairman of The Atlantic Council, has been looking at these issues of energy power politics for years. Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 4 May 2022 Great-power politics are a thing of the past, and so on and so on, examples of a worldview based on a liberal determinist view of history that is, like all determinist views of history, nonsense. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 25 Mar. 2022 Given the danger that Russia, a state that puts power politics above economic efficiency, would use that leverage as a way to influence the direction of German foreign policy in the event of further adventurism from the Kremlin, this was unwise. Jordan Mcgillis, National Review, 10 Mar. 2022 Vladimir Putin’s invasion has exposed the reality of power politics, in which competing blocs of free and despotic states are again driving history. Aaron Rhodes, WSJ, 3 Mar. 2022 It’s not imperialism; this is great-power politics. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1901, in the meaning defined above