Voluntarism

Origin

voluntary + -ism

Noun

1. (US) A reliance on volunteers to support an institution or achieve an end; volunteerism.
2. (philosophy) A doctrine that assigns the most dominant position to the will rather than the intellect.
3. (politics) The political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.

Derived terms

• voluntarist
• voluntaristic