Oligarchy is one of numerous English words for a type of rule or government. Oligarch is a term which is thrown about quite often these days but do you know what an oligarch is? Copy link. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. Jimmy Carter comments on the influence of money in politics ... “Oligarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oligarchy. People have control over their lives and also oligarchy facilitates people with self empowerment. Oligarchy is one of numerous English words for a type of rule or government. [32][33][34], In a 2015 interview, former President Jimmy Carter stated that the United States is now "an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery" due to the Citizens United v. FEC ruling which effectively removed limits on donations to political candidates. Shaw, Bernard und Baziyan, Vitaly. The oligarchy refers to a form of government that was implemented during the contemporary era, represented by a group of people belonging to the same social class , that is, it is a government made up of few people. Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. [31] Other studies have questioned the Page and Gilens study. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and privatization of the economy in December 1991, privately owned Russia-based multinational corporations, including producers of petroleum, natural gas, and metal have, in the view of many analysts, led to the rise of Russian oligarchs. "[19][20][21][22], In 1998, Bob Herbert of The New York Times referred to modern American plutocrats as "The Donor Class"[23][24] (list of top donors)[25] and defined the class, for the first time,[26] as "a tiny group—just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population—and it is not representative of the rest of the nation. Recent Gains of Bottom 90 Percent Wiped Out", "The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election", "From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash – Top Donors List", "Why the 'donor class' matters, especially in the GOP presidential scrum", "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens", "Major Study Finds The US Is An Oligarchy", "The new study about oligarchy that's blowing up the Internet, explained", "Testing Inferences about American Politics: A Review of the "Oligarchy" Result", "Reconsidering the Middle: A Reply to Martin Gilens", "Jimmy Carter: U.S. Is an 'Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery, "Wall Street spends record $2bn on US election lobbying", "Wall Street Spent $2 Billion Trying to Influence the 2016 Election", Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Largest financial services companies by revenue, Largest manufacturing companies by revenue, Largest information technology companies by revenue, Public corporations by market capitalization, The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oligarchy&oldid=1000004182, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. However, in … Oligarchy is a term for a government in which power is held by a select few individuals or a small class of powerful people. This was already recognized by the Athenians in the fourth century BCE: after the restoration of democracy from oligarchical coups, they used the drawing of lots for selecting government officers to counteract that tendency toward oligarchy in government. I love the common people. The people who hold the power in an oligarchy are called “oligarchs” and are related by characteristics such as wealth, family, nobility, corporate interests, religion, politics, or … The oligarchy refers to a form of government that was implemented during the contemporary era, represented by a group of people belonging to the same social class , that is, it is a government made up of few people. The main difference between oligarchy and plutocracy is that oligarchy is the rule by a privileged minority whereas plutocracy is the rule by a wealthy minority.Hence, plutocracy is a form of oligarchy, but plutocracy distinguishes the particular ruling minority by their great income or wealth. [7], The exclusive consolidation of power by a dominant religious or ethnic minority has also been described as a form of oligarchy. Owners are the largest private owners in the country. 2-in-1: English-German. An oligarchy is a power structure under which a small group of elite individuals, families, or corporations control a country. An oligarchy is a small group of people who control and run a particular country or organization. Those few ruling members have enough power to create policies that benefit them to the exclusion of the rest of … You can look at the figure and judge for yourself: America in 2014 matches mostly with the oligarchy model — an oligarchy of wealthy individuals. An oligarchy is a style of government or management where the few rule over the rest. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! These people are usually more powerful and wealthy than the rest of the population. It comes from the Greek … noun oligarchies. I want a democratic power strong enough to force the intellectual oligarchy to use its genius for the general good or else perish.” [11]. Sanders said his former opponent would nominate justices prepared to overturn Citizens United. Both oligarchy and democracy refer to different types of ruling systems. [35] Wall Street spent a record $2 billion trying to influence the 2016 United States presidential election. Published. Some of these words, such as plutocracy , have an exceedingly similar meaning (both may be used to refer to rule by an economic … (2014). Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy. 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