Aristocracy was originally meant to be a government led by the most capable people, but in practice it became associated with monarchy and inherited privilege. Some countries based aristocracy on land ownership or religious elements. Representative democracy is argued to be a form of aristocracy. An aristocracy with unlimited powers could work if those in charge acted in the best interest of the masses, but corruption is a risk.
In theory, an aristocracy is very different from the way historical practice has described it. Two famous Greek philosophers, Aristotle and Plato, were responsible for the idea of aristocracy. In their concept, it was to be a government in which the most capable people were put directly in charge of everything, and it was to be a direct contradiction of the Greek democratic system of the time. In practice, there were some difficulties in implementing an aristocratic form of government, mainly due to the inability to determine who was more suitable, and it eventually became directly associated with the idea of monarchy.
The idea of aristocracy spread far and wide across the world, but most governments decided that the only way to determine if people were capable was to look at their ancestors. If someone’s parents were successful, wealthy, and prominent, that person would generally be given more leadership privileges and responsibilities, and this has continued for generations, regardless of performance. Eventually, this led to a group of royal families, and the term aristocracy became more directly related to the idea of monarchs.
There were also other aristocracies that didn’t base things on genetics. In some countries, status was directly based on things like land ownership or wealth, regardless of heritage. In others, it may be related to religious elements. Sometimes there might be a combination of elements that would ultimately allow a person to enter the aristocracy, and some countries had different classes of aristocrats with statuses based on different things.
Many countries eventually decided that they didn’t really like the idea of aristocracy. This was mainly because there was generally no fair way to choose worthy leaders to ensure that the best people were always put in charge. Some people argue that the eventual development of representative democracy is really a kind of aristocracy, just with the people choosing who the more capable leaders are.
In theory, an aristocracy with unlimited powers might be able to work, at least for a while. If those responsible were really capable and acted in the best interest of the masses, many experts believe that such a government would be extremely effective. In practice, many people suggest that corruption often infiltrates systems where individuals have too much power without the proper checks and balances, and this could negate many of the potential benefits.
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