ruling classes
Those who govern
The ruling classes are those who hold political and economic power in a society—the wealthy, the aristocracy, government officials, and others whose influence shapes how everyone else lives.
The term typically carries critical or analytical weight, implying that power is concentrated rather than distributed: The ruling classes have always feared popular uprisings.
Often used in Marxist or class-conscious analysis.
- elitesPrivileged powerful groups
- power eliteSociety's dominant influencers
- upper crustSocial elite class
- old moneyLong-established family fortune
- magnatesWealthy, powerful industrialists
the one percent · captains of industry · politicians · halls of power · monarchs · powers · oligarchs · emperors · aristocracy · nobility · landed gentry · feudal lords · patricians · authority · tribal leaders · elite networks · czars · moguls
ruling classessubjects
Areas of study
citizenry · common people · the people · the masses · rank and file
ruling classeslower classes
Society's poorest economic strata
underclass · working class · proletariat · peasantry · commoners
ruling classesworking class
Manual laborers collectively
proletariat · labor · workers · wage earners · propertyless
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