Who is in charge, and how? These words name kinds of power. Many of them are built from Greek parts: -archy and -cracy both mean rule, and the first part tells you who rules or how. auto- means self, olig- means few, and an- means without.
Key idea
autocrat = self + power (one person rules alone). oligarchy = few + rule. anarchy = without + rule. bureaucracy = desk + rule (rule by offices and forms). hierarchy = a ranking from top to bottom.
These are words for history and the news, but the pictures here are fairy-tale kingdoms and clubhouses: the ideas are the same at any size.
The ten words
Common mistake
anarchy means "without a ruler"; in everyday use it means chaos. oligarchy (rule by a few) is not monarchy (rule by one).
| word | who rules | parts |
|---|---|---|
| autocrat (autocracy) | one person, alone | auto (self) + crat (power) |
| despot, tyranny | one person, cruelly | Greek despotes (master), tyrannos (ruler) |
| oligarchy | a few | olig (few) + archy (rule) |
| bureaucracy | offices and officials | bureau (desk) + cracy (rule) |
| anarchy | no one | an (without) + archy (rule) |
Sovereign and autonomy are about freedom from outside control: a sovereign nation answers to no other nation, and a person with autonomy makes her own choices. Hegemony is the opposite situation seen from above: one power dominating the rest.