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plutocracy

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plutocracy

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A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. It can be considered a form of oligarchy (rule by the few) where the ruling few are wealthy. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. It is not rooted in any established political philosophy.

AI overview

A plutocracy is a society run or controlled by wealthy people, making it a type of oligarchy where those in power happen to be the rich. The term matters because it describes a specific form of inequality in who holds power—one based on wealth rather than other factors like education, nobility, or popular votes.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
form of state
Image
Thomas Theodor Heine - The Lord of the world.jpg
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different from
Plutarch
has characteristic
wealth
Commons category
Plutocracy
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Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
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Encyclopedic overview

9 sections
Contents
  • Usage
  • Examples
  • United States<!--'Donor Class' redirects here-->
  • Post-World War II
  • Causation
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. It can be considered a form of oligarchy (rule by the few) where the ruling few are wealthy. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. It is not rooted in any established political philosophy.

==Usage== The term plutocracy is generally used as a pejorative to describe or warn against an undesirable condition. "Dollarocracy", an anglicised adaptation of the word "plutocracy", may refer to "a specifically American version of plutocracy".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “plutocracy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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