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A plutocracy is a form of government where the state's power is centralized in an affluent social class. The degree of economic inequality is high while the level of social mobility is low. This can apply to a multitude of government systems, as the key elements of plutocracy transcend and often occur concurrently with the features of those systems. The word plutocracy itself is derived from the ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratein, meaning to rule or to govern.
[edit] Usage
The term plutocracy is generally used to describe two distinct concepts: a historical term and a modern political term.
[edit] Historical
Traditionally, plutocracy is the political control of the state by an oligarchy of the wealthy. Examples of such plutocracies include some city-states in Ancient Greece and the Italian merchant republics of Venice, Florence, and Genoa. Plutocracies typically emerge as one of the first governing systems within a territory after a period of anomie.[citation needed] Aristocracies are an example of plutocracies that typically develop early in the history of a nation state.
Kevin Phillips, author and political stategist to U.S. President Richard Nixon, argues that the United States is a plutocracy in which there has been "the fusion of money and government." [1]
[edit] Modern Political
The second usage of plutocracy is a pejorative reference to the great and undue influence (both positive and negative) the wealthy have on the political process in contemporary society. Positive influence includes campaign contributions and bribes; negative influence includes refusing to support the government financially by refusing to pay taxes, threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, and so on. It can also be exerted by the owners and ad buyers of media properties which can shape public perception of political issues. Recent examples include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's alleged political agendas in Australia, the UK[2] and the United States or George Soros' efforts to back left-leaning PACs (political action committees) and the oil industry oligarchy which may back right-leaning PACs.
Recently, there have been numerous cases of wealthy individuals and organizations exerting financial pressure on governments to pass favorable legislation. (see: Lobbying) Most western democracies permit partisan organizations to raise funds for politicians, and it is well-known that political parties frequently accept significant donations from various individuals (either directly or through corporate institutions). Ostensibly this should have no effect on the legislative decisions of elected representatives; however it would be unlikely that no politicians are influenced by these contributions. The more cynical might describe these donations as bribes, although legally they are not. In the United States, campaign finance reform efforts seek to ameliorate this situation. However, campaign finance reform must successfully challenge officials who are beneficiaries of the system which allows this dynamic in the first place. This has led many reform advocates to suggest taxpayer dollars be used to replace private campaign contributions, these reforms are often called clean money, clean elections reform as opposed to simply campaign finance reform which does not adress the conflict of interest involved where most or all of the campaign money is from private, often for-profit sources.
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[edit] See also
- Corporate abuse
- Corporate police state
- Corporatism
- Corporatocracy
- Democracy
- Oligarchy
- Special interest
- Anti-globalization
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