Aristocracy

Aristocracy, government by a relatively small privileged class or by a minority consisting of those presumed to be best qualified to rule.

As conceived by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE), aristocracy means the rule of the few—the morally and intellectually superior—governing in the interest of all. Such a form of government differs from the rule of one in the interest of all (monarchy) and the rule of the many in the interest of all (a form of government that Aristotle called polity). Rule by one or the few in the rulers’ own interest is tyranny or oligarchy (or timocracy), respectively, and anarchic mob rule is democracy, as Aristotle used that term.