timocracy

A timocracy (; from Greek τιμή timē, "honor, worth" and -κρατία -kratia, "rule") in Aristotle's Politics referred to a type of government in which citizens were equal in most respects, but their political participation was determined by a hierarchy based on property. Those whose wealth required them to contribute more to public expenses enjoyed greater political privileges in proportion to their means. More advanced forms of timocracy, where power derives entirely from wealth with no regard for social or civic responsibility, may shift in their form and become a plutocracy where the wealthy rule.

==Ancient Greece== Solon introduced the ideas of timokratia as a graded oligarchy in his Solonian Constitution for Athens in the early 6th century BC. His was the first known deliberately implemented form of timocracy, allocating political rights and economic responsibility depending on membership of one of four tiers of the population. Solon defined these tiers by measuring how many bushels of produce each man could produce in a year, namely: Pentacosiomedimnoi – "Men of the 500 bushel", those who produced 500 bushels of produce per year, could serve as generals in the army Hippeis – Knights, those who could equip themselves and one cavalry horse for war, valued at 300 bushels per year Zeugitae – Tillers, owners of at least one pair of beasts of burden, valued at 200 bushels per year, could serve as hoplites Thetes – Manual laborers