A plutocracy does not have basis in any established political philosophy. Plutocracies are ruled by those with great wealth and income. The other type of autocracy is a dictatorship. These absolute monarchies are considered autocracies. Most of the world’s surviving monarchies are the constitutional variety with only five true monarchies left in existence: The Vatican City where the Pope serves as the head of the monarchy, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bruni, and Eswatini. Some constitutional monarchies give the ruler significant freedoms and input into government and policy other constitutional monarchs have very little personal authority. The more prevalent constitutional monarchies vary widely in the monarch’s power. There are two types of monarchies: true monarchies and constitutional monarchies. The English Civil War (1642-1651) was the first united effort to reform the monarchy in England. Up until the 20th century, monarchies were the most popular type of government, and over 40 nations still have a monarch in one way or another. Some of the most famous types of governments and infamous political leaders have been heads of a monarchy. This was because of an unfounded belief that some people were more fit to rule or were sanctioned by God to rule. However, eventually true aristocracy was corrupted from this ideal rule by the best into a more general aristocratic class oligarchy with inherited rule. Aristocracy was supposed to be “rule by the best.” And inherited rule would have been illegal unless the politician’s child was qualified over all other citizens. Initially, aristocracy was presented as a favorable contrast to an inherited monarchy. Monarchies are the most famous type of aristocracy. Lastly, while there are not usually official aristocracies associated with democracies, often times people with means and influence can get special treatment within the government and sway the opinions of the voters. A technocracy gives the power to experts. Meritocracy is a government where those who are most qualified to rule are given power. A plutocracy is also an aristocracy meaning “rule by the wealthy.” Aristocracies not associated with monarchies and inherited rule are meritocracy and technocracy. Autocracies are also considered aristocracies however, their reach tends to be much smaller with only the autocrat’s close friends and family being considered aristocrats. All oligarchies are aristocracies as an oligarchy is considered “rule by the few.” The difference between an oligarchy and an aristocracy is the supposed quality of the rulers. So what are the different types of aristocracies?įor the most part, there are two main types of aristocracies: those associated with monarchies and those that are not. However, even now not all aristocracies are associated with a monarchy. Although, buying one’s way into an aristocratic title was even more rare than those that were earned for service. The people who make up an aristocracy are called aristocrats and are often given unique monikers to denote their level of rank within the aristocracy (duke, duchess, earl, baron, etc.) These ranks could be earned through service to a monarch, military service, in rare cases or, with the emergence of a middle class, bought. However, at its origins, aristocracy was believed to be better than either a monarchy or a democracy: “Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Xenophon and the Spartans considered Aristocracy (the ideal form of rule by the few) to be inherently better than the ideal form of rule by the many (Democracy), but they also considered the corrupted form of Aristocracy (Oligarchy) to be worse than the corrupted form of Democracy (Mob Rule).Īs aristocracy took on the new meaning associated with a monarchy, most aristocracies were inherited from the father to the son with daughters often being excluded from inheriting. Aristocracy means “rule of the best” in Ancient Greek and has become associated with rule by a nobility. Aristocracy by its very name is a type of government that puts the power into the hands of a deserving few. There are many different types of government and there are many people who claim to have the “best” style of governing.
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