Oligarchy is where a small group of people having full control of a country, organisation or institution.
On the one hand, the view that Oligarchy exists within traditional structures is agreed with by the Elite theorists. This is because the elite theorists such as Pareto saw society as divided between the rulers and the ruled. They believe that society is ruled by one small powerful Elite, the ruling class. For example, the Government rule of society as they are able to implement laws and rules which people within society have to abide with. It exists within traditional power structures as the Government has been a traditional power holder in recent years.
Similarly, Marxists also agree with the view that oligarchy exists within traditional power structures. Karl Marx said that only the bourgeoisie held power in society and that power only exists with one person or group at one time, this is the zero sum model. One example of this is industrial work places, such as factories. This supports the view that oligarchy exists within traditional power structure, because since industrialisation period began, the factories owners who control the means of production take nearly all of the profit whereas the workers do most of the hard labour only get a small profit of the money earned. Furthermore, this view is also supported by feminists. Feminists believe that society is highly patriarchal and oligarchy does exist within traditional power structures. This is because feminists argue that men oppress women and they always have. In terms with oligarchy, men have always had power over women so therefore it exists within traditional power structures. Similarly, Lukes ideology of shaping desires also supports the view of oligarchy. Lukes suggested that the powerful groups are able to make people think what they want. For example, the government as all of the different political parties try and