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Oligarchy Countries 2024. An oligarchy is a governmental system in which the government is controlled by a small group of people, or oligarchs. The term "oligarch" comes from an ancient Greek word, "oligarkhia", which means "the rule of the few." Oligarchs typically gain control through financial means, such as donating heavily to politicians ...
- Oligarchy Definition
- Russia
- China
- Saudi Arabia
- Iran
- The United States
Coming from the Greek word oligarkhes, meaning “few governing,” an oligarchy is any power structure controlled by a small number of people called oligarchs. Oligarchs may be distinguished and related by their wealth, family ties, nobility, corporate interests, religion, politics, or military power. All forms of government, including democracies, th...
Though Russian President Vladimir Putin denies it, he functions as part of a wealth-based ruling oligarchy that had its beginnings in the 1400s. In Russia, as in many essentially anti-capitalist countries, accumulating personal wealth requires contacts inside the government. As a result, the Russian government tacitly allows the billionaire oligarc...
The religion-based Chinese oligarchy regained control after the death of Mao Tse-Tungin 1976. Claiming to be descendants of Taoism’s “Eight Immortals,” members of the so-called “Shanghai gang” oligarchs control most state-owned corporations, consult on and profit from business deals, and intermarry in order to maintain their relationship to the Imm...
The reigning monarch of Saudi Arabia is required to share his power with the descendants of the 44 sons and 17 wives of the country’s founder and first monarch, King Abd al-Aziz al-Sa'ud (1853-1953). The current king, Salman bin Abdulaziz has appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman as defense minister and overseer of Saudi Aramco, the powerfu...
Despite having a popularly elected president, Iran is controlled by a religion-based oligarchy of Islamic clerics and their relatives and friends. The Iranian constitutionstates that “the One God (Allah)” holds “exclusive sovereignty” over the country. The Islamic oligarchs took power after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. His repl...
Many economists contend that the United States is now or is becoming an oligarchy. In saying this, they point to the country’s worsening income inequality and social stratification, two of the main characteristics of a wealth-based oligarchy. Between 1979 and 2005, the incomes of the top 1% of U.S. workers rose by 400%. According to a 2014 study by...
Mar 10, 2023 · Examples of oligarchy. Because oligarchy is often used as a derogatory term for a corrupt government, several countries have been described as such throughout history. The term oligarch has been...
Examples of this system include South Africa under apartheid, Liberia under Americo-Liberians, the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and Rhodesia, where the installation of oligarchic rule by the descendants of foreign settlers was primarily regarded as a legacy of various forms of colonialism.
- The Kingdom of France. The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states in Europe since the High Middle Ages. At various times, it was either an absolute monarchy or a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
- China. The government of China describes itself as communist. China is also called the “people’s republic,” but the governance of China is maintained not by the majority of citizens.
- Iran. The politics of Iran have also been characterized as oligarchic. It has been called a theocracy and a clerical oligarchy. Clerics in Iran have a lot of political power.
- Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy (Cavendish, 2006), but its political arrangement does have elements of an oligarchy. Most political decisions are made by the members of the House of Al Saud, but the ulama (Islamic religious leaders and jurists), tribal sheiks, and members of important families also have considerable influence on major issues (Teitelbaum et al., 2022).
Apr 2, 2024 · Oligarchy, government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes. Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as plutocracies.
Oct 19, 2023 · Broadly speaking, an oligarchy is a form of government characterized by the rule of a few persons or families. More specifically, the term was used by Greek philosopher Aristotle in contrast to aristocracy, which was another term to describe rule by a privileged few.
