WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -These men were called oligarchs, from a Greek word meaning “few.” In an oligarchy, the ruling power lies in the hand of a few people. Most Greek oligarchs were aristocrats, rich men who had inherited land from their families. A few oligarchs were wealthy merchants.

Detailed explanation-2: -The main difference between the two is the basis for the ruling class’s power. When aristocrats rule, they do so because of their inherited social class. In an oligarchy, people rule because of wealth or land ownership. In some Greek city-states, an oligarchy replaced aristocratic rule.

Detailed explanation-3: -The ten most-prominent oligarchs of the early Putin era include Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Alisher Usmanov, Viktor Vekselberg, Leonid Mikhelson, Arkady Rotenberg, Gennady Timchenko, Andrey Guryev and Vitaly Malkin.

Detailed explanation-4: -Aristotle used the term oligarchia to designate the rule of the few when it was exercised not by the best but by bad persons unjustly. In this sense, oligarchy is a debased form of aristocracy, which denotes government by the few in which power is vested in the best individuals.

Detailed explanation-5: -Plato considered aristocracy to be the best form of governance with the most competent and able people in charge whereas, in oligarchy, the focus is upon division between rich and poor. Oligarchy is seen as a rule of the powerful and corrupt officials whereas aristocracy is considered a refined version of oligarchy.

Detailed explanation-6: -The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory first developed by the German-born Italian sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book Political Parties.