What is "negarchy"

n. A form of status quo maintained by the interrelations of power structure and authority.

Negarchy was a term coined by Daniel Deudney to mean a form of status quo maintained by the interrelations of the power structure and authority that modern states hold in relation to one another, which negate one another because of their respective influence. The situation of this kind of power compromise results in putting limits upon and reining in the rule of all such states by reducing their individual power and potential influence. Thus, it is a rule of their own creation to which they also unwillingly subject themselves. Comparisons have been drawn between the negarchy and natural law structures and with intranational markets. Negarchy is described as being a form of governing between "anarchy and hierarchy."