Expecting this to be buried very quickly but hey-ho
Came across this word...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/...7558/oligarchy
oligarchy
oligarchy, government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.
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....
The quote goes on but thats the gist of it.
It was on a programme on BBC4 called Surviving Progress, have to say it was an eye opening programme ...and the outcome for these Oiligarchic civilisations?.....Not good.