Vocabulary lesson

ol·i·gar·chy

1.  a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

2.  a state or organization so ruled.

3.  the persons or class so ruling.

~ Dictionary .com

Oligarchy

1.  government, or State governed, by a small group of people.

2.  members of such a government.

~ Pocket Oxford Dictionary

Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία, oligarkhía) is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military control. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words "ὀλίγος" (olígos), "a few" and the verb "ἄρχω" (archo), "to rule, to govern, to command". Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.

Throughout history, some oligarchies have been tyrannical, relying on public servitude to exist, although others have been relatively benign. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy, but oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group, and do not have to be connected by bloodlines as in a monarchy. Some city-states from ancient Greece were oligarchies.

~ Wikipedia