Aristocracy

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011

Aristocracy is government of a State run by its elite citizens. Government of a State by those who are most distinguished by birth and wealth; oligarchy; a State so governed. A ruling body of nobles, an oligarchy. Origins of the word aristocracy imply the meaning of "rule by the best."

Aristocracy is the class to which such rulers belong, the nobility; the patrician or privileged class, regardless of the form of government.

Aristocrat: A member of an aristocracy or of the nobility, orig. of the French aristocracy in the French Revolution of 1790.

Patience Capital and the Demise of the Aristocracy - June 2005
MATTHIAS DOEPKE 
University of California, Los Angeles - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
FABRIZIO ZILIBOTTI 
Stockholm University - Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)
Abstract: We model the decision problem of a parent who chooses an occupation and invests in the patience of her children. The two choices complement each other: patient individuals choose occupations with a steep income profile; a steep income profile, in turn, leads to a strong incentive to invest in patience. In equilibrium, society becomes stratified along occupational lines. The most patient people are those in occupations requiring the most education and experience. The theory can account for the demise of the British land-owning aristocracy in the nineteenth century, when rich landowners proved unable to profit from new opportunities arising with industrialization, and were thus surpassed by industrialists rising from the middle classes. - papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=779287

The industrial revolution, political economy and the British aristocracy: the second Viscount Dudley and Ward as an eighteenth-century canal promoter - David Brown
Journal: The Journal of Transport History - ISSN: 0022-5266 Volume 27 Issue 1, March 2006, pp 1-24
Abstract: This case study of the second Viscount Dudley and Ward, the great canal promoter, argues that the aristocracy made a positive contribution to British economic growth in the age of the classic `industrial revolution' through their willingness to promote local economic initiatives like canals and enclosures in Parliament and their own economic initiatives. In his case, sibling rivalry and the desire for status provided the impetus for his economic activities, which were also heavily influenced by political and social considerations. - journals.mup.man.ac.uk

THE SWEDISH ARISTOCRACY AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT CIRCA 1740–1780 
Author: Wolff, Charlotta
Abstract: During the second half of the 18th century, Sweden had important political and cultural contacts with France. The aristocracy, which had a central role in Swedish politics during the Age of Liberty, showed an active interest in the French Enlightenment. This article examines the meaning of radical philosophy in the context of court society. It focuses on the Swedish diplomats in Paris as an example of a learned elite for which philosophy was not so much a way to transform society as an alternative form of intellectual satisfaction. - ingentaconnect.com

Monarchy, Aristocracy, and the State in Europe, 1300–1800 
Powis J.
Source: English Historical Review, Volume 117, Number 473, September 2002, pp. 970-971(2)

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