Aristocracy. Rule by the best. The basis upon which the best are to be identified or chosen

may be variously specified. For example, fitness to govern may be assessed in technical,

meritocratic terms, or in historical or dynastic ways, since, by definition, the best are a select group,

the distinction between aristocracy and oligarchy may become blurred,

and oligarchy has often been presented as a corrupt form of aristocracy.

Oligarchy.

Government by the few.

The logically exclusive categories of government by the one, the few, or the many, have been widely deployed.

But the terminology has varied.

For example, aristocracy is a form of government by the few.

Aristotle distinguished between

rulers who govern in the general interest, aristocracy, and rulers who govern in their own interests,

oligarchy. Sociologists have made claims about a necessary connection between organization

and oligarchy.

See also Elites, Iron Law of Oligarchy. Howdy everybody? This is CJ in 2024.

And the bulk of this episode is going to be a

reissue on the public feed of

an episode of the DHP that I recorded

and produced a decade ago.

Probably a little more than a decade ago,

although I forget the exact month, but definitely

one that came out in 2014, in which I explain and analyze the so-called Iron Law of Oligarchy.

...