Aristocracy is a  form of government in which "the best" rule. From the Greek terms aristoi (or "best") and cracy ("rule of"). Many political thinkers and regimes have advanced this form of government but disagree over what, or who, the best people are and how they should govern. For the Greek philosopher Plato, in The Republic the aristocracy consists of the wise who know virtue. His ideal regime is governed by "Philosopher-kings" who set up a truly just society, including economic, educational, and military systems. For Aristotle, the aristocracy is the rule in the ancient Greek polis of the most civilized, reasonable, prosperous, and educated elite. For Christian political thought (St. Augustine, the Puritans, etc.), there is no pure aristocracy on earth because all people are sinful, but a government with truly Christian rulers or saints will be the best possible government.

All aristocratic governments imply an elite which excludes many (inferior) people from political power. Questions, then, of who is the aristocracy and how they are recognized arise. Aristotle, for example, excludes non-Greeks (or barbarians), women, slaves, the poor, ignorant and young people from governance. Since reason and leisure are required for just, wise rule only adult, Greek, male, wealthy citizens should have positions of authority. During the European Middle Ages most states had a ruling aristocracy based on family heredity; the monarchy and nobility descended through certain families who had "blue blood." Modern, republican regimes rejected this hereditary idea of "the best" but retained an idea that some people make better rulers than others.

American Thomas Jefferson held that a "natural aristocracy" of virtue (morals) and talents (ability) existed in society and that it should occupy positions of political leadership. This Jeffersonian aristocracy was democratic in two senses, however: (1) It was born into all classes, families, and nationalities, and (2) it was to be elected to office by the people generally. The cultivating of this natural aristocracy, for Jefferson, required a public education system, economic opportunity, and political democracy. It is in the interest of the whole society to recognize the good and talented young people even from poor and humble backgrounds and to elevate them through education to positions of leadership. A healthy democracy will select this natural aristocracy in popular elections. Jefferson contrasted this natural aristocracy of "wisdom and virtue" with those of birth (heredity) and wealth (riches) and felt that if the "pseudo-aristocracies" of money or family ruled, the American republic would be corrupted. John Adams, another early American thinker, also conceived of a natural aristocracy but identified it with the socially prominent and financially prosperous. Adams felt that someone with a good educational, economic, and social background would handle authority well. These Jeffersonian and Adams definitions of aristocracy are basically those held by the modern Democratic and Republican Parties in the United States.

Communist and other radical political thinkers deny any idea of an aristocracy except a reverse one of the downtrodden, oppressed, exploited, and miserable. This radical antiaristocratic view says that those least prepared and accepted by society (impoverished, criminal, minorities, uneducated) should govern. So in the early Soviet Union, social outcasts such as Stalin were elevated to positions of power, with brutal results.

Even though a legal aristocracy has been eliminated in most modern countries, the idea of a "best" kind of people in society who should govern continues, though the definition of it varies.

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