Plutocracy
From Free net encyclopedia
A plutocracy is a form of government where all the state's decisions are centralized in an affluent wealthy class of citizenry, and 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 concomitantly with the features of those systems. The word "plutocracy" itself is derived from the ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth.
The term plutocracy is generally used to describe two unrelated phenomena. In writings about history, 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. 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]
Plutocracies typically emerge as one of the first governing systems within a territory after a period of anomie. Plutocracy is closely related to aristocracy as a form of government, since wealth and high social status have been closely associated throughout history.
Before the equal voting rights movement managed to end it in the early 20th century, many countries used a system where rich persons had more votes than poor. A factory owner may for instance have had 2000 votes while a worker had one, or if they were very poor no right to vote at all. Even fictional persons such as companies had voting rights.
The second usage of plutocracy is a pejorative reference to the great and undue influence the wealthy have on the political process in contemporary society. This influence can be exerted positively (by financial "contributions" or in some cases, bribes) or negatively by refusing to financially support the government (refusing to pay taxes, threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, etc). It can also be exerted by the owners and ad buyers of media properties which can shape public perception of political issues (e.g. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's alleged political agendas in Australia, the UK 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 partisan democracies permit the raising of funds by the partisan organisations, 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 has to successfully surmount challenge by officials who are beneficiaries of the system which allows this dynamic in the first place.
See also
- Corporate abuse
- Corporate police state
- Corporatism
- Corporatocracy
- Democracy
- Oligarchy
- Special interest
- Anti-globalization
External links
- Beyond Plutocracy -- free online book, "Beyond Plutocracy: Direct Democracy for America" by Roger Rothenbergerda:Plutokrati
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