The Moribund State and the Management of Decline

Moribund State

English

Katakana: モリバンド・ステート

Part of Speech: noun phrase

Definition: A political order that continues to function administratively and legally but has lost its legitimacy, vitality, and capacity for meaningful renewal, persisting primarily through institutional inertia rather than public consent or shared purpose.

Example Sentence: “The nation was not collapsing, but many citizens sensed they were living under a moribund state, where governance had become an exercise in maintenance rather than vision.”

Origin: From moribund (Latin moribundus, “about to die”) and state (Latin status, “condition”), describing a polity that endures in form while declining in substance.

Related Terms: managed decline, institutional inertia, zombie institutions, legitimacy exhaustion, late-stage bureaucracy