A political or social system that concentrates power toward a central authority; the tendency to move toward or gather around a center.
From centripetal (Latin centrum + petere 'to seek/move toward') plus -ism suffix. Created in 19th-century political discourse to describe centralizing tendencies.
Centripetalism in politics literally describes the opposite of devolution—while Scotland debates independence, they're resisting centripetalism from London, showing how this word captures fundamental tensions in modern governance.
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