Political scientist Josiah Ober argues that the successes of ancient Greek democracy can serve as a model for the democratic governments of today. But it may not be easy to apply ancient lessons ...

Americans are left squinting at their screens, Googling: "What is an oligarchy?" Sure, it sounds fancy—like something you'd hear in a college philosophy class—but it turns out this little term ...

What exactly is an oligarchy, anyway? The concept of oligarchy goes back to ancient Greek philosophy.

But their politics and ours are very different beasts. To an ancient Greek democrat (of any stripe), all our modern democratic systems would count as “oligarchy”.

What exactly is an oligarchy, anyway? The concept of oligarchy goes back to ancient Greek philosophy.

Oligarchy’s original analyst was Aristotle. His Politics parsed power in ancient Greece, rattling off the many oligarchical systems that prevailed. Each had its internal logic.

What are the term’s origins? Like many words in politics, oligarchy originates from Ancient Greek and quite literally means that few command.

What are the term’s origins? Like many words in politics, oligarchy originates from Ancient Greek and quite literally means that few command.

The ancient Greeks famously invented democracy. But what was Greek democracy actually like - and how was it different from the 21st-century kind? What's in a word?We may live in a very different ...