At the turn of a new presidential administration, tech giants and multimillionaires appear alongside politicians in the limelight, sparking dialogue about changing power dynamics in America and the influence that those with extreme wealth have over America’s politics. In his presidential farewell address, former President Joe Biden warned about the dangers of an oligarchy taking shape in the United States. In the wake of his address, Google searches on the meaning of oligarchy spiked as more Americans pondered the true meaning of this system of government.
A tech giant that has garnered a significant increase in public attention since President Donald Trump’s inauguration is Elon Musk, Trump’s appointed head of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency. Despite the absence of an official government position and lack of political experience, Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 13, at the white house to discuss advancing international relations between India and the U.S. Musk has used his market dominance to immerse himself in a broader political role, emerging as a powerful figure in the current administration.
With powerful figures like Musk at the forefront of policy making, worries among the American public mount about the formation of oligarchy within the U.S. Merriam-Webster defines oligarchy as a government by the few. It is a form of government that places a large and disproportionate amount of political and economic control in the hands of members of society who only represent a small subset of the entire population. These members can range from larger groups, such as notable families and corporations, to company CEOs.
“In every society, this small group of people has different characteristics,” Santa Clara University professor of sociology Enrique Pumar said. “In modern-day U.S., people who make up the upper skeleton of the upper class are very influential in politics. They have regular access to political leaders in the executive branch and Congress.”
The development of oligarchies around the world depends heavily on the national context, so oligarchies in different countries are often not formed the same way. For example, oligarchs living in a capitalist society rise to power in vastly different ways than oligarchs in a formerly communist society. In the former Soviet Union, people rose to political and social ranks by expressing immense allegiance to communism or the leaders controlling that society.
“In historic communist societies, the main currency to have access to power was ideological commitment and affinity toward communism,” Pumar said. “Leaders of those societies may have been oligarchs with a lot of support towards the well-being of the political system.”
However, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a small group of wealthy business entrepreneurs and bankers rose to power, quickly establishing themselves as oligarchs in the newly formed capitalist infrastructure. In many European countries that once operated under a monarchy, an oligarchy would be seen under an aristocratic system. In other countries, oligarchy can be established by a dominant ethnic or religious minority, such as South Africa during apartheid, where a white minority institutionalized racial segregation over a nonwhite majority.
Concerns regarding the skewed influence of wealthy groups first became prominent in the U.S. in the late 19th to early 20th centuries with the emergence of the Gilded Age, when the U.S. adapted to a newly industrialized economy filled with large-name corporations dominating major markets. This incline in monopolies formed a system of complete market domination by railroad tycoons, which later expanded to political influence and gave rise to U.S. power structures with wealthy elites at the top.
The concentration of government power under a few people leaves the majority of the population without equal representation. In an ideal democracy, those in political power are chosen by equitable voting, and their power is limited by systems of checks and balances. In an oligarchy, those at the top have unchecked power, and they are not bound to the will of the people while the decisions of the government disproportionately favor the interests of these elites.
“Oligarchy does not take into account the opinion of the common people,” junior Archis Nene said. “People are forced to live under new rules and new policies that they don’t get to determine.”
In modern American society, the ability of individuals to hold vast amounts of power is rooted in many factors, but in the U.S., a few characteristics of powerful people have become well-defined. According to economist Daron Acemoglu in an article published in Project Syndicate, power usually stems from status or prestige. In the modern-day U.S., status has become intertwined with money and wealth. Wealth can give people immense social and political influence, creating a system where those with more money acquire more power. More than spending power, wealth flaunts prestige and status relative to one’s peers, ultimately resulting in a mad dash by the top 1% to acquire as much wealth as possible.
However, not all wealthy individuals exhibit the traits of an oligarch. In an interview with the Washington Post, Dartmouth sociology professor Brooke Harrington described that oligarchs are simply a subset of the wealthy population who influence political and governmental decisions outside of the typical system, such as being active members in office.
“There are some very, very wealthy individuals that have chosen not to get involved in politics or to get involved in politics in a more benign way, so it’s important to note that not everyone with money is part of an oligarchy,” Pumar said. “Nonetheless, others enjoy that access to power very much so.”
Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO of Las Vegas Sands who had a net worth of over $30 billion, is an example of an American oligarch due to his hefty donations to politicians sharing his beliefs, donating an estimated $93 million to Republicans seeking office. He was also known for his involvement in U.S.-Israeli relations, influencing Trump to aid Israel, a country that Adelson strongly supported. Following a $5 million donation by Adelson to Trump’s inaugural committee, Trump terminated over 50 years of U.S. foreign policy — one that advocated for a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine — and recognized the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, additionally moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Today, billionaires are playing an increasingly larger role in shaping American politics, stemming from their high-value contributions to political campaigns. According to Oxfam, 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion on congressional and presidential campaigns in 2024 alone. During his campaign for the presidency, Trump proposed an administration consisting of over 13 billionaires with a combined net worth of more than $450 billion. Many people believe that monetary contributions by society elites diminish the value of public democracy and the American people’s voice in a country that is constantly changing.
On Feb 3., the White House officially confirmed Musk’s employee status as a special government employee, an executive branch appointee who does not need to be confirmed by Congress like every other cabinet member. During the 2024 election cycle, Musk’s donations to Trump’s and other Republican candidates’ campaigns totaled $288 million. Musk primarily funneled copious amounts of campaign donations through his super political action committee, America PAC, which was created to support Trump’s presidential campaign. Super PACs are organizations that pool vast amounts of campaign contributions from individuals and corporations to independently support or oppose political campaigns, such as creating an advertisement or sending out mail. Ever since the 2010 landmark Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the government has permitted unlimited independent spending in elections, which has emboldened the political influence of wealthy donors and corporations. Other billionaires on Trump’s cabinet include Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
More and more Americans continue to voice their concern that Trump’s cabinet is setting an alarming precedent for the rise of power and representation among the top 1% and not the “forgotten men and women” that Trump once promised to fight for. The median US income of about $75,000 is more than ten times smaller than the income threshold for the top 1% of earners. Over the last four decades, the percentage of the country’s net worth held by the top 1% jumped from 22.8% to 30.8%. Highly concentrated power arises from highly concentrated wealth, resulting in less representation for the common American. According to University of California, Berkeley professor and former labor secretary Robert Reich, it’s hard to imagine how the wealthiest Cabinet nominees in history will understand what the average American worker is going through. Discussions revolving around the true roles and responsibilities of government will unlikely ever stop. They will continue so long as Americans see that power is exclusive to the hands of a few.
“In America, social mobility and access to power and wealth is highly stratified,” Pumar said. “The few people who do have that access because of their status, wealth and the disproportionate amount of power they have can decide what we experience and see.”
