What does depoliticising mean?
Depoliticising is the gerund or present participle of 'depoliticise', meaning to remove the political dimension from an institution, decision, or public issue — taking it out of the arena of partisan contest and party advantage. It is commonly applied when governments hand control of contentious matters to independent bodies, such as central banks setting interest rates, judicial appointments made by commissions, or pay reviews delegated to outside experts. The word is formal in register and appears chiefly in political commentary and academic writing about governance. Its connotations are ambivalent: supporters see depoliticising as insulating important decisions from short-term electoral pressure, while critics view it as a way of dodging democratic accountability by moving choices beyond the reach of voters. Spelled with an 's' in British English and a 'z' in American English, its noun form is depoliticisation (or depoliticization). It remains a key term for describing how modern states manage politically sensitive questions.
Present participle of depoliticise: removing political character, control, or partisanship from something.
"The commission is charged with depoliticising the appointment of senior civil servants."
Used in continuous tenses and attributively, e.g. 'a depoliticising measure'.
As a gerund, the act or process of removing political influence from an institution, issue, or decision.
"Depoliticising monetary policy was seen as essential to controlling inflation."
In this use, 'depoliticisation' is the more common abstract noun form.
When governments can't agree on an answer, they often try to remove the question from politics altogether — that's depoliticising at work, from central banks to independent commissions.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of depoliticising
The word combines the prefix 'de-', indicating removal or reversal, with 'politicise', itself formed from 'political'. 'Political' derives via Latin 'politicus' from Greek 'politikos', meaning 'of, for, or relating to citizens', from 'polis', the Greek city-state. The verb 'depoliticise' arose as a modern formation, gaining currency in twentieth-century political discourse alongside related terms like 'decentralise' and 'denationalise'. Cognates sharing the same Greek root include 'policy', 'polity', 'metropolis', and 'cosmopolitan'.
Related word forms
How depoliticising is actually used
The '-ising' spelling reflects British English; American English uses 'depoliticizing'. The word carries a somewhat formal, academic register and appears most often in political science, journalism, and policy commentary. It can carry either a positive connotation (removing self-interested interference) or a negative one (evading democratic accountability), depending on the writer's perspective. The corresponding noun is 'depoliticisation'.
Easily confused with depoliticising
'Apolitical' describes someone or something that is neutral or uninvolved in politics, whereas 'depoliticising' refers to the active process of stripping political character from something.