From democracy to oligarchy: Understanding different forms of governance

The United States imposed another round of sanctions on 50 Russian oligarchs and their families last week, a move that was clearly aimed at President Vladimir Putin. All of them are said to be part of Putin’s inner circle, and use their money and influence to shield him from any harm.

The UK too announced somewhat similar sanctions against them. The European Union has also said that it would sanction more than two dozen Russian oligarchs.

But what exactly is an oligarch? The word oligarchy has Greek origins. It comes from a combination of the word ‘olígos’, which means ‘few’, and ‘arkho’, which means ‘to rule or to command’.

Any societal power structure where the ruling power lies in the hands of a small number of privileged people can be broadly categorised as an oligarchy. And, these people in power, in turn, are known as oligarchs.

In the Russian context, western media uses the term oligarch to refer to very rich Russian business leaders who have a great deal of political influence. Especially those who are close to President Putin.  

There are several kinds of oligarchies. Take the example of an aristocracy, which means a system where the nobles rule. Then there is plutocracy, a system where the wealthy rule. And then there is technocracy, a system where technical experts or educated people rule.

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Russia is also categorised as an autocracy in some quarters. In an autocracy, the supreme authority or power to rule is in the hands of one individual or entity. External authorities and even the people have no say in the decisions taken by said individual or entity.

Autocracy includes dictatorship. There are two kinds of dictatorships. One is a civilian dictatorship and the other is a military dictatorship like the one we saw in Pakistan on several occasions.

Civilian dictatorship is a form of governance where absolute power is in the hands of a civilian. Here, the ruling dictator does not derive his power from the military.

On the other hand, in a military dictatorship, the military exerts complete or at least substantial control over political authority in the country. Here, the dictator is quite often a high-ranked military officer.  

Autocracy also includes absolute monarchy. Some examples of absolute monarchy are Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Brunei. In an absolute monarchy, a family or a group of families, also called royalty, rules the country. In such a system, the monarch’s power is not limited by laws or legislation. Also, the post of the monarch is hereditary.

And then there is Ukraine, which has been hailed as a country that is bravely fighting to preserve its democracy.

In a democracy, the country’s people are involved in selecting its leadership or head. The people play a crucial and deciding role in the process of forming the government. In such a system, people have the right to vote for any party or political representative to bring them to power.

The primary goal of a democracy is to ensure that the leaders govern through fair representation.

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