Aristocracy

An aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of a (usually) hereditary "upper class" known as aristocrats. This system has often been combined with a monarchy, in that some functions of government were administered by the monarch (usually also a member of the aristocracy) with the remainder being held by other aristocrats. Generally, this form of government evolved out of earlier feudal systems.

One of the hallmarks, and most contentious points, of an aristocracy has been "rule by right of birth." It is predicated on the idea that there is a particular caste of hereditary nobility which has the greatest right - or greatest ability - to rule. This concept enjoyed great support historically, at least among the nobility, during periods where rule by martial prowess and conquest gave way to longer and longer "dynasties" of inherited power; for example, Europe during the late medieval and Renaissance periods, or the Ashikaga Shogunate in Japan.

Hereditary rulership has had many challengers historically, however, and is currently considered largely discredited by most sources. Doctrines of egalitarianism have been developed, as for instance by Voltaire in The Rights of Man. Coupled with a lack of empirical evidence for the hereditary nature of leadership ability, these ideas have served to largely discredit the ideological foundations of aristocracy. However, aristocracies do persist in many countries; some are largely symbolic in nature, but others still maintain dynastic governments.

One may argue that a form of aristocracy persists in many western representative democracies, with inherited wealth, family contacts, and education made possible by such wealth and contacts assuring that the sons and daughters of the wealthy retain influential positions. For example, consider the US elections of 2000, where George W. Bush, the son of a former president, faced Al Gore, the son of a former senior federal senator in an election decided in Florida, in which Bush's brother Jeb was the state Governor. Meanwhile, Hilary Clinton, the wife of the outgoing president Bill Clinton, was elected to the federal senate representing New York.