9781422277737

“What varies across history is the nature of the threats and how oligarchs respond to defend their wealth.” Winters describes four kinds of oligarchies. In warring oli- garchies , armed autocratic rulers use coercion and violence when other oligarchs threaten their power. An example would be the feudal barons of medieval Europe. In ruling oligarchies , oligarchs govern collectively and rule directly through governmental institutions. Such forms of gov- ernment existed in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as in Italian city-states during the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Winters also describes sultanistic oligarchies , in which power is in the hands of a lead oligarch who holds final author- ity, and who is not restricted by any laws, especially regarding property rights. This leader exercises power by control of the armed forces, police, and security forces. Winters describes the Indonesian government during the rule of Suharto (1968–1998) as a sultanistic oligarchy. In civil oligarchies , the ruling group does not govern direct- ly, although it has power behind the scenes. Civil oligarchies can exist only in countries where laws strongly protect proper- ty rights. Civil oligarchs use political power, rather than vio- lence, to ensure that the laws reflect their own interests. In his book, Winters identifies the United States as an example of a civil oligarchy. This claim is quite controversial. Most political scientists view the United States today as a flawed representative democ- racy, whose political system has become overly responsive to the interests of the very wealthy. For his part, Winters doesn’t

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Oligarchy: Power of the Wealthy Elite