Aristocracy is a form of government, in which a select few such as the most wise, strong or contributing citizens rule, often starting as a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, or lawyers to their number. Aristocracy deforms when it becomes hereditary elite.
Aristocracies have most often been deformed to hereditary plutocratic systems. They sometimes include a monarch who although a member of the aristocracy, rules over it as well as over the rest of society.
The term "aristocracy" is derived from the Greek language aristokratia, meaning 'the rule of the best'.[1] See Aristocracy for the historical roots of the term.
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- ^ The Oxford Companion to British History, John Cannon (Editor), Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 9780198661764
