The concept of aristocracy can have two basic meanings, related to each other but at the same time distinguishable one from the other. In the political sense, the term aristocracy refers to a type of government in which only individuals considered superior or better within a society have access to power. If it is understood in the social sense, the aristocracy is one of the most important and permanent social groups throughout history, only entering into clear decline in the 19th century of our era.
The aristocracy as a governmental system is by definition the government of the best. The word aristocracy comes from the Greek, meaning aristos "the best" and Kratos "government". This implies that an aristocratic government is one in which access to power is limited to a relatively small number of people who are normally elected by lineage, inheritance, or lineage. In some cases, the aristocracy may also be oriented to intellectual questions and therefore only educated individuals with certain intellectual capacities will be considered responsible for carrying out the government.
If we stay in the political sense, we can also add that the aristocracy is then opposed to other forms of government such as the monarchy (the government of a single person), the plutocracy (the government of the rich) and essentially democracy ( the people government).
Regarding its social meaning, the aristocracy is defined as one of the most important social groups within a specific society or community. Although aristocratic power declined from the French Revolution until it almost disappeared today, this social group was always present in a large part of human civilizations. Its main characteristics were to have access to political and economic power, cultural knowledge and knowledge, the means of production and decision-making. The aristocracy was always composed of a small number of individuals in the total community as a whole, individuals who exercised great influence over governments (if they were not part of it) and who were among the richest and wealthiest.
