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President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

President Joe Biden in his Wednesday farewell speech to the nation warned that American democracy was sliding into an “oligarchy” of tech billionaires. But what exactly is an oligarchy?

What is an oligarchy?

In short, an oligarchy is an elite few who control the government’s actions.

By using the pointedly negative term “oligarchy,” Biden equated this moment — when the world’s wealthiest men are feting President-elect Donald Trump — with some of history’s more brutal regimes.

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to cohost a Trump inaugural reception with wealthy Republican donors next week. Amazon Prime Video, which was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, got exclusive licensing rights to stream and theatrically release first lady Melania Trump ‘s new documentary.

Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. And billionaire Elon Musk’s super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Trump.

But Biden made a complicated assertion as both Republicans and Democrats have relied on Silicon Valley fortunes to boost their political ambitions.

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President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

What are the term’s origins?

Like many words in politics, oligarchy originates from Ancient Greek and quite literally means that few command. But unlike an aristocracy, an oligarchy is more closely tied to wealth than nobility and family lineage.

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The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book “Politics” that “democracy is safer and more free from civil strife than oligarchy; for in oligarchies two kinds of strife spring up, faction between different members of the oligarchy and also faction between the oligarchs and the people.”

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What are some examples of oligarchies?

Multiple countries have been labeled oligarchies by academics. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, former state assets and other institutions came under the control of increasingly wealthy businessmen who became known as billionaire oligarchs.

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The mix of profits and politics that began under then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin gave way to crackdowns by President Vladimir Putin, who has his own favored oligarchs and pledged to let them keep their fortunes so long as they are loyal to him.

With its legacy of colonialism and powerful families, the Philippines has been accused of being an oligarchy, with its former President Rodrigo Duterte claiming to have dismantled the system. Critics said he simply gave preferences to a different set of oligarchs.

Apartheid-era South Africa was also seen by some academics as having a white racial oligarchy.

Even before Biden’s speech, the rising wealth gap in the United States — as well as in China — raised concerns about whether the world’s two largest economies were becoming oligarchies.

Associated Press writers Lindsey Bahr and Dan Merica contributed reporting.

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