(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
What Is an Oligarchy, and Why Are People Worried the US Is Becoming One? [1]
['Liv Mcconnell']
Date: 2025-03-26 11:00:00+00:00
Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take
For years, political experts have warned that America is in a state of democratic decline. Now some say democracy in the US could be giving way to something else entirely: an oligarchy. That’s an alarm former president Joe Biden sounded in his farewell address.
Addressing the nation as president for the last time on January 15, Biden warned that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.” He spoke of a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people” and said there would be “dangerous consequences, if their abuse of power is left unchecked.” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are currently criss-crossing the country on a “fighting oligarchy” tour.
If the meaning of “oligarchy” feels like a blur from history class, don’t worry — its definition is actually pretty simple. What it means for America to become one is a bit more complicated, however. Below, we break down what an oligarchy is, using examples from history and the present. Then, we’ll summarize why some experts fear America could be becoming one — and what we can do about it.
What Is an Oligarchy?
An oligarchy is a form of government where a small group of people — typically, the very wealthy — holds most or all of the power, using it to make decisions that serve their own interests over those of the general public.
What interests, specifically, are they serving? Two different types of “wealth defense,” according to Jeffrey Winters, director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program at Northwestern University and a researcher of oligarchies. In his 2011 book Oligarchy, Winters outlined the two arms of wealth defense as “property defense” (defending what you already own) and “income defense” (protecting and expanding your ability to own more).
Where democracy is meant — in definition, if not always in practice — to be a system of majority rule, an oligarchy is ruled by the elite few. It’s a term that was coined by Aristotle in his 4th century BC book Politics, where he outlined six models of government and labeled oligarchies one of three corrupt types. (FYI, Aristotle also considered democracy to be corrupt, warning that it could be twisted by self-interested leaders and fail to serve the common good. As many witnesses to modern American democracy have argued, he wasn’t totally off base. Today, just 19% of Americans think the US is a good example of democracy.)
Though the definition of oligarchy is simple, conversations about the US becoming one today may feel confusing — especially because power imbalance along socioeconomic lines has long existed in America. So has backdoor corporate influence on politics and politicians. So what’s different about the era we’ve entered now? Some political observers say the outsized influence of an elite few has been legitimized, made overt, and built into our systems of power. It’s something we’ve seen play out before, both abroad and at home.
Examples of past and current oligarchies
Sparta
One of history’s most famous oligarchies was Sparta, the ancient Greek city-state. While it had two kings, real power arguably lay with the “few” (oligoi) — a council of 28 aristocratic men over the age of 60 who shaped policy. Along with the kings, they formed the gerousia (council of elders), and ruled over the perioeci (the middle class of farmers and artisans) and the helots (enslaved people). Citizen assemblies offered only a symbolic check to their power. A board of elected ephors (judges) was later introduced as another kind of check, but instead of weakening the oligarchy, they tended to uphold it. In Politics, Aristotle labelled ephors as “open to bribery.”
The United States During the Gilded Age
As we said before, the US has its own long history of wealthy elites weaponizing political influence in order to pad their pockets. From the late 1870s to the early 1900s, a new class of uber-powerful industry magnates — or “robber barons” — came to dominate the economy and wield enormous political influence. Figures like John D. Rockefeller (oil), Andrew Carnegie (steel), and J.P. Morgan (finance) built monopolies that shaped government policies and election outcomes in their favor. With political power concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy elites, economic inequality skyrocketed.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-is-an-oligarchy-us
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
