Oligarchy

Who are the “Few”?

From today's point of view, one can say that the “few” who, according to the logic of the notion, form the backbone of oligarchy may actually represent very different groups—slave owners, landlords, nobility, the rich and wealthy, the top brass of any kind, party bureaucracy, and so on. Rule of the rich and wealthy (“plutocracy”) may be only one of the meanings of the notion of oligarchy. In economic science, the closest analogue of oligarchy is oligopoly: a situation in which only a few large-scale “players” dominate an economy and are practically independent of others who cannot compete with them on an equal footing.

Oligarchic rule is not necessarily dictatorship and arbitrariness. While one of the major characteristics of oligarchy is nonaccountability of power, it may in a way rely on law (i.e., be legal); however, this law is in the interests of the few. Similar to monarchies, oligarchic regimes may even be considered by some as legitimate, although their legitimacy does not rest on popular consent and support. An oligarchic regime, unlike personal dictatorship, may be partly predictable; it defines the limits of the politically permissible and the forbidden in terms of the critique and opposition. It is usually said that the oligarchs “rule but not man-age”—they would seldom occupy official positions in government, but their opinion is crucial because of their power and influence (economic and other). There may be internal tensions and conflicts within the oligarchic system; this points to the importance for the oligarchs of the existence of an external arbiter who is accepted as such by them.

The term oligarchy is used widely today: however, more likely not as an analytical concept but as a descriptive image. From the point of view of modern political science, it is a relatively vague [Page 1740]and amorphous notion with clear negative evaluative connotations. Many critics consider the notion of oligarchy to be too reductive or even too poor for effective political analysis, with insufficient theoretical base.

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