Oligarchy Explained

Oligarchy (;)[1] [2] [3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, religious, political, or military control.

Throughout history, power structures considered to be oligarchies have often been viewed as coercive, relying on public obedience or oppression to exist. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as meaning rule by the rich, contrasting it with aristocracy, arguing that oligarchy was the perverted form of aristocracy.[4]

Types

Minority rule

See main article: Minoritarianism.

The consolidation of power by a dominant religious or ethnic minority can be considered a form of oligarchy.[5] Examples include South Africa during apartheid, Liberia under Americo-Liberians, the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and Rhodesia. In these cases, oligarchic rule was often tied to the legacy of colonialism.[5]

In the early 20th century, Robert Michels expanded on this idea in his Iron Law of Oligarchy He argued that even democracies, like all large organizations, tend to become oligarchic due to the necessity of dividing labor, which ultimately results in a ruling class focused on maintaining its power.

Putative oligarchies

See main article: Business oligarch.

Business groups may be considered oligarchies if they meet the following criteria:

Intellectual oligarchies

George Bernard Shaw coined the concept of an intellectual oligarchy in his play Major Barbara (1907). In the play, Shaw criticizes the control of society by intellectual elites and expresses a desire for the empowerment of the common people:[7]

I now want to give the common man weapons against the intellectual man. I love the common people. I want to arm them against the lawyer, the doctor, the priest, the literary man, the professor, the artist, and the politician, who, once in authority, is the most dangerous, disastrous, and tyrannical of all the fools, rascals, and impostors. I want a democratic power strong enough to force the intellectual oligarchy to use its genius for the general good or else perish.

Countries perceived as oligarchies

Jeffrey A. Winters and Benjamin I. Page have described Colombia, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore and the United States as oligarchies.[8]

The Philippines

See main article: Monopolies in the Philippines (1965–1986). During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos from 1965 to 1986, several monopolies arose in the Philippines, primarily linked to the Marcos family and their close associates. Analysts have described this period, and even subsequent decades, as an era of oligarchy in the Philippines.[9] [10] [11]

President Rodrigo Duterte, elected in 2016, promised to dismantle the oligarchy during his presidency.[12] However, corporate oligarchy persisted throughout his tenure. While Duterte criticized prominent tycoons such as the Ayalas and Manny Pangilinan, corporate figures allied with Duterte, including Dennis Uy of Udenna Corporation, benefitted during his administration.[13]

Russian Federation

See main article: Russian oligarchs. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent privatization of state-owned assets, a class of Russian oligarchs emerged. These oligarchs gained control of significant portions of the economy, especially in the energy, metals, and natural resources sectors.[14] Many of these individuals maintained close ties with government officials, particularly the president, leading some to characterize modern Russia as an oligarchy intertwined with the state.[15]

Iran

See main article: Khomeinism and Velayat-e-faqih. The Islamic Republic of Iran, established after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, is sometimes described as a clerical oligarchy. Its ruling system, known as Velayat-e-Faqih (Governance of the Jurist), places power in the hands of a small group of high-ranking Shia clerics, led by the Supreme Leader. This group holds significant influence over the country's legislative, military, and economic affairs, and critics argue that this system concentrates power in a religious elite, marginalizing other voices within society.[16] [17]

Ukraine

See main article: Ukrainian oligarchs. Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, a powerful class of business elites, known as Ukrainian oligarchs, has played a significant role in the country's politics and economy. These oligarchs gained control of state assets during the rapid privatization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.[18] By 2021, Ukraine passed a law aimed at curbing oligarchic influence on politics and the economy.[19]

United States

Several commentators and scholars have suggested that the United States demonstrates characteristics of an oligarchy, particularly in relation to the concentration of wealth and political influence among a small elite,[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] as exemplified by the list of top (political party) donors.[25] [26] [27]

Economist Simon Johnson argued that the rise of an American financial oligarchy became particularly prominent following the 2008 financial crisis.[28] This financial elite has been described as wielding significant power over both the economy and political decisions.Former President Jimmy Carter in 2015 characterized the United States as an "oligarchy with unlimited political bribery" following the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision, which removed limits on donations to political campaigns.[29]

In 2014, a study by political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University argued that the United States' political system does not primarily reflect the preferences of its average citizens. Their analysis of policy outcomes between 1981 and 2002 suggested that wealthy individuals and business groups held substantial influence over political decisions, often sidelining the majority of Americans.[30] While the United States maintains democratic features such as regular elections, freedom of speech, and widespread suffrage, the study noted that policy decisions are disproportionately influenced by economic elites.[31]

However, the study received criticism from other scholars, who argued that the influence of average citizens should not be discounted and that the conclusions about oligarchic tendencies were overstated.[32] Gilens and Page defended their research, reiterating that while they do not label the United States an outright oligarchy, they found substantial evidence of economic elites dominating certain areas of policy-making.[33]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29li%2Fgos "ὀλίγος"
  2. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29%2Frxw "ἄρχω"
  3. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29ligarxi%2Fa "ὀλιγαρχία"
  4. 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 wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and where the poor rule, that is a democracy'."
  5. Book: Coleman . James . Rosberg . Carl . Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa . registration . 1966 . 681–683 . . Los Angeles . 978-0520002531.
  6. Chernenko . Demid . Capital structure and oligarch ownership . Economic Change and Restructuring . 2018 . 383–411 . 10.1007/S10644-018-9226-9 . 52 . 4 . 56232563 .
  7. Shaw, Bernard und Baziyan, Vitaly. 2-in-1: English-German. Major Barbara & Major in Barbara. New York, 2020,
  8. Winters . Jeffrey . Jeffrey A. Winters . Page . Benjamin . Benjamin Page . December 2009 . Oligarchy in the United States? . Perspectives on Politics . 2009 . 7 . 4 . 731–751 . 10.1017/S1537592709991770 . 144432999 . 2022-03-12 . the concept of oligarchy can be fruitfully applied not only to places like Singapore, Colombia, Russia, and Indonesia, but also to the contemporary United States..
  9. Hutchcroft . Paul D. . April 1991 . Oligarchs and Cronies in the Philippine State the Politics of Patrimonial Plunder . World Politics . en . 43 . 3 . 414–450 . 10.2307/2010401 . 2010401 . 154855272 . 1086-3338.
  10. Mendoza . Ronald U. . Bulaong . Oscar Jr. . Mendoza . Gabrielle Ann S. . 1 February 2022 . Cronyism, Oligarchy and Governance in the Philippines: 1970s vs 2020s . 4032259 . en.
  11. Web site: Explainer: The oligarchy in the Philippines is more than just one family or firm . 2022-05-15 . Philstar.com.
  12. Web site: Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos . Duterte takes pride in dismantling oligarchy . 2022-05-15 . . en.
  13. Web site: Businesses under Duterte administration: Who gained, who got hurt? . Esmael . Lisbet . June 29, 2022 . CNN Philippines . Sep 19, 2023 . 28 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230928210716/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/business/2022/6/29/Businesses-under-Duterte-administration-Who-gained-got-hurt.html . dead.
  14. Book: Scheidel, Walter . Walter Scheidel . The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century . . 2017 . 978-0691165028 . 51 & 222–223.
  15. Web site: Russian oligarchs: What are they and how have they changed over time? . 2023-09-28 . BBC.
  16. Book: Kazemzadeh, Masoud . Iran's Foreign Policy: Elite Factionalism, Ideology, the Nuclear Weapons Program, and the United States . Routledge . 2020 . 978-0-367-49545-9 . New York . 1–19.
  17. Book: Amuzager, Jahangir . The Islamic Republic of Iran: Reflections on an Emerging Economy . Routledge . 2014 . 978-1-85743-748-5 . New York . 48–50, 88–89.
  18. Chernenko . Demid . Capital structure and oligarch ownership . Economic Change and Restructuring . 2018 . 383–411 . 10.1007/S10644-018-9226-9 . 52 . 4 . 56232563 .
  19. Web site: Zelensky's battle against oligarchs: What does the new law mean? . Al Jazeera . 2023-09-28.
  20. News: Andy . Kroll . The New American Oligarchy . 2 December 2010 . . TomDispatch . 17 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120122032008/http://archive.truthout.org/andy-kroll-the-new-american-oligarchy65597 . 22 January 2012 . dmy-all.
  21. America on the Brink of Oligarchy . The New Republic . 24 August 2012 . Starr . Paul.
  22. Oligarchy and Democracy . . November–December 2011 . 28 September 2011 . Jeffrey A. . Winters . 7 . 2 . 17 August 2012.
  23. News: Herbert . Bob . Bob Herbert . The Donor Class . 19 July 1998 . . 10 March 2016.
  24. News: Confessore . Nicholas . Cohen . Sarah . Yourish . Karen . The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election . 10 October 2015 . . 10 March 2016.
  25. News: Lichtblau . Eric . Confessore . Nicholas . From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash – Top Donors List . 10 October 2015 . . 11 March 2016.
  26. News: McCutcheon . Chuck . Why the 'donor class' matters, especially in the GOP presidential scrum . 26 December 2014 . . 10 March 2016.
  27. [Thomas Piketty|Piketty, Thomas]
  28. The Quiet Coup . The Atlantic . May 2009 . Simon . Johnson . Simon Johnson (economist) . 17 August 2012.
  29. Kreps . Daniel . 2015-07-31 . Jimmy Carter: America Is Now an 'Oligarchy' . 2024-07-14 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  30. Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens . Gilens . Martin . Page . Benjamin I. . . 2014 . 12 . 3 . 564–581 . 10.1017/S1537592714001595 . free.
  31. Prokop, A. (18 April 2014) "The new study about oligarchy that's blowing up the Internet, explained" Vox
  32. Testing Inferences about American Politics: A Review of the "Oligarchy" Result . Research & Politics . 1 October 2015 . 2053-1680 . 2053168015608896 . 2 . 4 . 10.1177/2053168015608896 . en . Omar S. . Bashir . free.
  33. News: Gilens . Martin . Page . Benjamin I. . 2021-12-07 . Critics argued with our analysis of U.S. political inequality. Here are 5 ways they're wrong. . 2024-07-14 . Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.

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