noun
- a system of government in which power is concentrated in a central authority rather than distributed among local or regional governments
Usage: political science
Examples
- The country’s centralism left little autonomy for individual states.
- Critics argued that excessive centralism weakened local democracy.
- The new constitution moved away from centralism toward greater regional control.
- Centralism can lead to more uniform policies across a nation.
- Many developing countries have adopted centralism to maintain unity.
- The debate between centralism and federalism continues in political circles.