Government

===Aristocracy===
{{Main|Aristocracy}}

Aristocracy{{efn|{{lang-grc|ἀριστοκρατία}} {{transliteration|grc|aristokratía}}, from {{lang|grc|ἄριστος}} {{transliteration|grc|[[Wikt:aristocrat#English|aristos]]}} "excellent", and {{lang|grc|κράτος}} {{transliteration|grc|[[Wikt:kratos|kratos]]}} "[[Power (social and political)|power]]".}} is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, [[elite]] [[ruling class]],<ref name="OED">{{Cite OED|aristocracy}}</ref> such as a hereditary [[nobility]] or [[Social privilege|privilege]]d [[caste]]. This class exercises [[minority rule]], often as a [[Land tenure|landed]] [[timocracy]], wealthy [[plutocracy]], or [[oligarchy]].

Many monarchies were aristocracies, although in modern constitutional monarchies the monarch may have little effective power. The term ''aristocracy'' could also refer to the non-[[peasant]], non-servant, and non-[[Burgher (social class)|city]] classes in the [[feudal system]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}