Oligarchy
Rule by a small, often wealthy, minority.
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The Greek philosopher Aristotle described oligarchy as political rule that does not aim to forward the public's welfare but instead involves a small class ruling for its own interest.[1] Power in an oligarchic system is held by a limited number of individuals.[2] Those who lead such regimes are typically called oligarchs, and they are distinguished by possessing either noble titles or substantial wealth.[3]
Quick Facts
- Origin
- Ancient Greece
- First systematic theorist
- Aristotle
- Key modern theorist
- Robert Michels
- Associated concept
- Iron law of oligarchy
- Modern examples cited
- Colombia
- Indonesia
- Russia
- Singapore
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The Thirty Tyrants were an oligarchy that briefly ruled Athens from 404 BC to 403 BC, installed by the Spartans after the Peloponnesian War.[4] After the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, a class of Russian business oligarchs emerged from privatization of state-owned assets.[5] In 1996, fearing a Communist Party victory, the oligarchs funded Boris Yeltsin's re-election campaign and continued to influence his government.[6] The concept of rule by the wealthy was first named by Aristotle, who saw it as a debased version of aristocracy.[7]
Historians of Ancient Greece apply the term oligarchia to the rule of Athens' aristocratic Eupatridae class.[8] After Cleomenes made Isagoras an oligarchic ruler, Cleisthenes rallied the middle class and, during the 508–507 BC Athenian Revolution, ousted Isagoras.[9] During their eight-month rule, 5% of Athens' population was killed and citizens' property was seized.[4]
What the cited sources add
An explainer from Philstar.com notes that political families are designed to perpetuate themselves in power.[1] Mendoza stated that ending concentration of power among elites requires increasing competition rather than targeting specific families.[1] Ghosh wrote that India resembles an oligarchy where a few large capitalists control more of the country's assets and productive structures.[10] The Islamic Republic of Iran is described as a clerical oligarchy, with power held by a small group of high-ranking Shia clerics led by the Supreme Leader.[11]
Ghosh reported that following accusations of fraud by Hindenburg, the Adani Group's market value dropped by $110 billion in a matter of days.[12]
References
- "Explainer: The oligarchy in the Philippines is more than just one family or firm", Philstar.com. facts only, no text reused. philstar.com
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "ὀλίγος", Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library; "ἄρχω", Liddell/Scott.; "ὀλιγαρχία". Liddell/Scott. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Winters, "Oligarchy", Cambridge University Press, 18 April 2011; Bourguignon, "Oligarchy, democracy, inequality and growth", Journal of Development Economics, 2000, p. 285–313; "Oligarchy | Definition & Facts | Britannica" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krentz, Peter. The Thirty at Athens p. 50 (hardcover ); Wolpert, Andrew. Remembering Defeat: Civil War and Civic Memory in Ancient Athens. (hardcover ). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scheidel, "The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century", Princeton University Press, 2017, p. 51 & 222–223; "Russian oligarchs: What are they and how have they changed over time?", BBC }}{{Dead link, January 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Treisman, "Blaming Russia First", November–December 2000; "European Court: Khodorkovsky's Rights Violated", RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty; Aslund, "Putin's Economic Policy and Its Consequences", Oxford University Press, 2019-08-13; "What Americans can learn from the story of Russia's oligarchs", Jefferson Public Radio, 2025-02-04 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Winters (2011) pp. 26–28. "Aristotle writes that 'oligarchy is when men of property have the government in their hands... wherever men rule by reason of their w (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Simonton 2017, p. 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herodotus, Histories, 5.70; Lewis, "Cleisthenes and Attica", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 1963, p. 25 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Indian billionaire businessman Gautam Adani faces scrutiny", The World from PRX, 2023-04-24. facts only, no text reused. theworld.org
- Wikipedia, "Oligarchy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kazemzadeh, "Iran's Foreign Policy: Elite Factionalism, Ideology, the Nuclear Weapons Program, and the United States", Routledge, 2020, p. 1–19; Amuzager, "The Islamic Republic of Iran: Reflections on an Emerging Economy", Routledge, 2014, p. 48–50, 88–89 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Ghosh, "The Crisis of India's Oligarchy", Forbes.kz, 2023-02-26. facts only, no text reused. forbes.kz
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Oligarchy (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Oligarchy (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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