A ruling clique is a clique of people who jointly rule an oligarchic

form of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a m ...

. Ruling cliques which secure positions of power or leadership tend to form organized groups. Members of the clique may shape a balance of power between them, but some of them may seek greater influence over the others. Ruling cliques in general tend to create

autocratic Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

political systems In political science, a political system means the form of Political organisation, political organization that can be observed, recognised or otherwise declared by a society or state (polity), state. It defines the process for making official gov ...

Distinctions

Ruling cliques generally differ from another type of oligarchy: a

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

. Military juntas are always ruled by military personnel (often high-ranking like

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

). A ruling clique is typically formed by people from various professions, who, once in positions of power or leadership, tend to form councils, a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, or perhaps some other form of organized group. Members of such a grouping may share a rough balance of power, although this may shift as members seek greater influence, often at the expense of others. Ruling cliques tend to reduce accountability within the governing elite, thereby steering the established political system towards one that is more

, rather than democratic, in nature.

Dangers

The danger of ruling cliques stems from the inherent self-interest of any informally organised system of political governance. This point is captured by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

in the following quote, taken back from his 1943 work '' Looking Back on the Spanish War'':

“Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as "the truth" exists. ��The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, "It never happened"—well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five—well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs ��

This idea of cliques changing how people think about reality was the inspiration for Orwell's great novel about authoritarian oppression, ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''.

Types of cliques

Some ruling cliques could be considered a form of

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

, while others are based on a very small circle of rulers rather than a broader based organization such as a political party. In the former cases, the clique is a wide group or caste of the aristocracy, as existed in India in the 18th century. In the latter cases, the entire ruling clique is composed of a council of leaders who are the only members of the clique, and are only a small subset of the aristocracy, as what happened in the Marcos regime in the latter 20th century in the Philippines. A fictional small clique of ruling pigs is featured in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruling Clique Government Autocracy Oligarchy Cliques