6 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Are there examples of oligarchic governments being removed peacefully?
I understand that the Aristotle definition is "rule of the rich", but since wealth inequality is subjective, but the Soviet model absolutely was absolutely not effective at preventing oligarchies from forming, especially the later one. You can check Sergei Guriev's writings on the subject.
In the mid 1980's, a massive shift between oligarchs took place, as the older generation achieved key positions of power through maintaining key positions of power (The nomenklatura), promoted by the apparatchiks, and concentrating the state resources, particularly the fund of the Soviet Party. When Perestroika occurred, a new oligarchy of businessmen started to appear in the system, financed in part and helped by the older oligarchy. When privatization occurred in 1991, it was the now relatively wealthy businessmen of the ex-USSR who bought shares in natural resource companies and thus creating the modern Russian oligarchy we see today.
Comment by StorySad6940 at 23/01/2025 at 15:17 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I don’t think the USSR could be feasibly described as an oligarchy (and certainly not prior to perestroika). Per Winters, the defining feature of oligarchy is “wealth defence”. Was government in the USSR geared to defend the wealth of an ultra-rich elite? If you believe it was, it would be good to explain how you reached that conclusion (perhaps you can also elaborate on what you mean by wealth inequality being “subjective”).
The second part of your response seems to present a different argument: that the *collapse* of the Soviet model led to the emergence of the modern Russian oligarchy. That is undeniable, but pointing out that oligarchy emerged after the USSR ceased to exist rather undermines your contention that the Soviet model was itself oligarchic.