oligarchy

An oligarchy is a country, or a company, run by a small group. The Greek says it plainly: oligoi, the few, and arkhein, to rule. There may be elections and a parliament on paper; what makes it an oligarchy is that the real decisions keep returning to the same small circle. Its members are oligarchs. The test: ask who decides. In the animation, several hands share one ship's wheel while the crowd below never gets a turn.