What is an oligarchy?
An oligarchy is a form of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of a small group, typically distinguished by wealth, family connections, military control, or another shared advantage, rather than resting broadly with the citizenry.
Last reviewed . Not yet independently reviewed.
Core tenets
- Concentrated power in a small group
- Governing authority rests with a limited number of people, rather than a single ruler or the broader citizen body.
- Shared basis of membership
- Members of the ruling group typically share a common advantage, wealth, noble lineage, military rank, or party position, that grants them access to power.
- Limited accountability to the wider public
- The ruling group is not required to answer to the broader population through competitive elections open to genuine outside challenge.
How it works in practice
Oligarchy can coexist with formal democratic institutions if real power is concentrated informally within a narrow group despite nominally open elections.
- Informal power networks
- Decisions are frequently made through personal and economic relationships among the ruling group, outside formal government institutions.
- Barriers to entry
- Access to the ruling group is restricted, whether through wealth requirements, family ties, or control of key institutions such as the military or a single party.
Common variants
- Plutocratic oligarchy
- Power rests specifically with the wealthiest members of society.
- Military oligarchy
- Power rests with a small group of military officers, distinct from a single military dictator.
What it is often confused with
Oligarchy is often used as a loose insult for any government perceived as unfair, but the specific technical claim is that power rests concentrated in an identifiable small group, not with a single ruler or with the broader public.
Criticisms and debates
Criticism of oligarchy centers on the exclusion of the broader public from meaningful influence over governing decisions.
Democratic critique
Argues that concentrating power in any small group, regardless of the shared trait that defines it, denies the broader citizenry meaningful influence over decisions that affect them.
Response: Some political theorists have argued that a degree of elite influence is difficult to avoid in any large, complex society, and the more productive question is how open or closed the elite group actually is to new entrants.
Elite theory
Political scientist Robert Michels argued that all large organizations, including nominally democratic ones, tend toward oligarchic control by a small leadership group over time, a pattern he called the iron law of oligarchy.
Response: Critics of this view argue that strong democratic institutions, competitive elections, and term limits can meaningfully counteract this tendency, even if they cannot eliminate it entirely.
Historical examples
- Republic of Venice, medieval and early modern era
- Governing power was restricted to a closed hereditary group of noble families listed in the Golden Book, commonly cited as a historical oligarchy.
- Apartheid-era South Africa, 1948 to 1994
- Political power was restricted to the white minority population, an example commonly classified as a racial oligarchy.
Sources
- 1.Aristotle. Politics. Book IV, on oligarchy as rule by the wealthy few.
- 2.Michels, Robert. Political Parties. 1911.
- 3.Encyclopaedia Britannica. Oligarchy.