Ed Huntress wrote:

This is the definition of a "select" group of people, in this case by
Britannica:

"Aristotle used the term oligarchia to designate the rule of the few when it
was exercised not by the best but by bad men unjustly. In this sense,
oligarchy is a debased form of aristocracy, which denotes government by the
few in which power is vested in the best individuals. Most classic
oligarchies have resulted when governing elites were recruited exclusively
from a ruling caste -- a hereditary social grouping that is set apart from
the rest of society by religion, kinship, economic status, prestige, or even
language. Such elites tend to exercise power in the interests of their own
class..."

We may have a republic or representative democracy in theory, but the
above definition sounds a lot like what we have now in practice.

David