oligarchy – מילון אנגלי-אנגלי
oligarchy
n.
government by a small elite group; people or class selected to rule in an oligarchical government
Oligarchy
Oligarchy (; ) is a form of
power structure in which
power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people might be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, religious or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who typically pass their influence from one generation to the next, but inheritance is not a necessary condition for the application of this term.
oligarchy
Noun
1. a political system governed by a few people
(hypernym) political system, form of government
Oligarchy
(n.)
A form of government in which the supreme power is placed in the hands of a few persons; also, those who form the ruling few.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
Oligarchy
This name is given to designate the power which a few citizens of a state have usurped, which ought by the constitution to reside in the people. Among the Romans the government degenerated several times into an oligarchy; for example, under the decemvirs when they became the only magistrates in the commonwealth.
This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.
