voluntarism UK /ˈvɒ.lən.t(ə.)ɹɪ.zəm/US /ˈvɑ.lən.t(ə.)ɹɪ.zəm/ noun3 •A reliance on volunteers to support an institution or achieve an end; volunteerism. •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. •A doctrine that assigns the most dominant position to the will rather than the intellect. formsvoluntarisms