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Those few—the oligarchy—will use all means necessary to preserve and further increase their power. [ 6 ] According to Michels, this process is further compounded as delegation is necessary in any large organization, as thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands—of members cannot make decisions via participatory democracy .
Rule by an autocracy or oligarchy with a power source predicated on a political party or stratocracy; characterized by the rejection of political plurality. Band society: Rule by a government based on small (usually family) unit with a semi-informal hierarchy, with strongest (either physical strength or strength of character) as leader. Bureaucracy
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, [citation needed] and Rhodesia. In these cases, oligarchic rule was often tied to the legacy of colonialism. [5]
Solon introduced the ideas of timokratia as a graded oligarchy in his Solonian Constitution for Athens in the early 6th century BC. His was the first known deliberately implemented form of timocracy, allocating political rights and economic responsibility depending on membership of one of four tiers of the population.
More generally, an oligarch (from Ancient Greek ὀλίγος (oligos) 'few' and ἄρχειν (archein) 'rule') is a "member of an oligarchy; a person who is part of a small group holding power in a state". [3]
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and government, known as an autocrat.It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism.
Meritocracy (merit, from Latin mereō, and -cracy, from Ancient Greek κράτος kratos 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class. [1]
Theocracy is a form of autocracy [1] or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's daily affairs. [2] [3]