President Joe Biden capped a half-century political career on Wednesday with a final Oval Office speech, hoping to seal a legacy overshadowed by Democrats' failure to stop President-elect Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
The President warned the US of the dangers of oligarchy, tech complex from the Oval Office: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America, of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said.
So, what exactly is an Oligarchy?
A form of power structure in which power resides in the hands of a small number of people.
It derives from the Greek oligoi (few) and arkhein (to rule) and emphasizes the rule of the few. According to Britannica, that system has been seen throughout history and still exists in contemporary political arenas.
The kind of oligarchy that occurs under these circumstances is one in which some people have much more influence than others on how the decision (and possibly the votes cast) plays out, both indirectly and directly.
Control of our governance is held by the upper classes, military, and religious figures, et al., at… Oligarchies were omnipresent, even in democratic systems, according to the sociologist Robert Michels in his “iron law of oligarchy,” which argued that hierarchical politics are inevitable, as the increasing complexity of organizations will yield centralized leadership.
Examples of oligarchies
While no country has ever formally described itself as an oligarchy, various political analysts say that oligarchic political systems have been observed in various forms worldwide.
For example, after the USSR's disintegration, Russia represents another lesson. During the economic liberalizations of the 1990s, a handful of people gained control of much of Russia’s economy.
These oligarchs became rich as they appropriated state assets (Britannica).
Power in the United States is concentrated in our corporate and political elite in a closed circle surrounding Washington, according to Investopedia, allowing corporate interests in sectors like Silicon Valley and Wall Street to create policy.
How oligarchies retain power
Oligarchies use wealth, social standing, military power, and the perversion of political structures, essentially, to hold onto power.
Groups like this can lobby, fund campaigns, and influence the media to sway policymakers.
According to Mother Jones, American, and Russian oligarchic systems rely on each other, suggesting that borders become practically meaningless in these programs.
It is the public compliance or suppression that often sustains these regimes. They will resort to media control, legal manipulation, and dissension suppression, all to maintain the elite stranglehold on power so as to allow no opposition.
Dangers of oligarchic systems
Oligarchy widens inequality. One of the great perils of oligarchy is that it systematically furthers inequality. When wealth and power are concentrated in a small handful, the gulf between the elite and everyone else grows.
OpenEd CUNY argues this dynamic can engender conditions for social unrest, as decision-making processes are unavailable to marginalized cohorts. Oligarchies can also damage democratic principles.
By catering to elite priorities, they erode public confidence in institutions, corroding the principles of transparency, fairness, and accountability.