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View submission: Are there examples of oligarchic governments being removed peacefully?
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Comment by StorySad6940 at 23/01/2025 at 10:07 UTC*
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Respectfully, I don’t think you’ve read Winters’ work. Certainly, your comments indicate you don’t understand it. He would agree (as do I) that the overwhelming majority of sedentary societies have had to contend with the presence of oligarchic forces, and that oligarchy can therefore manifest in various ways (he presents a typology of warring, ruling, sultanistic and civil oligarchies). The extent to which oligarchies rule directly, or indirectly, varies depending on the type of oligarchy that prevails. McCormick’s critique (as you have presented it here) misses the mark completely, because Winters is concerned not with *diagnosing oligarchy in contrast to non-oligarchy*, but rather with *differentiating between these varied manifestations* of the phenomenon.
OP asked whether there are examples of *oligarchic* governments being removed peacefully, and the comment to which I responded provided a list of *authoritarian* governments which have been overcome through largely non-violent protest. All credible scholars in my field believe this is a meaningful conceptual distinction - you can disagree if you wish, but your position would be rejected by political scientists.
Your argument is that by the definition I have given, all governments are oligarchic. Okay - then you may conclude that *there are no examples* of oligarchies being toppled by peaceful means. My own feeling is that this is likely to be true, and I think Winters would concur. Oligarchies have been toppled by violent revolutions, but new forms of oligarchic power eventually emerge as wealth is once again concentrated.
What we *have* seen are peaceful transitions between different *types* of oligarchy (e.g. ruling oligarchies to civil oligarchies). I’d suggest that the very reason these transitions can occur peacefully is *because they leave oligarchic rule intact*.
(Edit: typo)