Oligarkhía

Oligarkhía, often rendered as oligarchy in English, is a form of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of a small group. The term comes from the Greek oligós, meaning “few,” and arkhē, meaning “rule.”

In practice, oligarkhía may be political, economic, or a combination of both. Access to power is typically linked to wealth, family or factional ties, military influence, or control over key institutions such as the legislature, the judiciary, or security forces. Rules and institutions may be designed to sustain the minority’s influence, and public offices or policy decisions can be dominated by elites rather than by broad participation.

Historically, the concept has been used to describe various regimes. In ancient Greece, most city-states operated with oligarchic elements at times, and the Thirty Tyrants of Athens (404–403 BCE) are a well-known example of rule by a small elite. In other periods and regions, oligarchic factions coexisted with more democratic or republican structures.

In contemporary political analysis, oligarkhía denotes a regime where authority rests with a small elite even if elections or constitutional forms exist. Critics argue that oligarchies undermine popular sovereignty and widen inequality, while defenders may point to stability or policy coherence in certain contexts. Some discussions distinguish between economic oligarchy—power concentrated among wealthy individuals or interests—and more formal political oligarchy tied to governance structures.

Examples in modern discourse include situations where a limited set of financiers or business leaders exert outsized influence on policy and institutions, with debates over whether the phenomenon amounts to oligarchy, plutocracy, or a mix of both.