Plutocracy - Plutocracy

It refers to a state in which the power of money influences politics and sway political decisions. The Greek word plutokratia means rule by the wealthy class, and the ancient Greek politician Solon divided the Athenian citizens into four classes based on the amount of land and wealth they had, and restricted political participation based on their class. This is called timocracy, and is contrasted with Aristotle's "politics of virtue."

Political control by the wealthy is not limited to ancient Greece. In the early modern period, the Fugger family in Germany and the 19th century Jewish capitalist Rothschild family in England also maintained their political privileges and privileged status by bestowing money and gifts on monarchs. In recent years, a typical example of money politics can be seen in Japan with the birth of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and his subsequent control. The July 1974 House of Councillors election was called a "money power election," and it was rumored that 500 million yen was won and 4 lost in the national districts. In addition, as Tanaka's control was established after his resignation, large amounts of money were said to have been transferred in the joining of mid-term independent members to the faction, assistance to new members, and the determination of the order of the list of proportional representation candidates in the 1983 House of Councillors election. This called into question the money power nature of the logic of "numbers are power" and "money is power." Therefore, today, Tanaka-style political rule, including the practice of returning benefits to constituencies, has become synonymous with money politics.

[Masayuki Fukuoka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

金の力で政治に影響を与え、政治的決定を左右する状態をさす。ギリシア語のplutokratiaとは富裕者階層による支配を意味し、古代ギリシアの政治家ソロンは、アテネ市民を土地・財産の大小によって4階級に分け、その階級によって政治参与を制限した。これをティモクラティアtimocratiaといい、アリストテレスの「徳の政治」に対置される。

　富者による政治支配は、古代ギリシアに限らず、下って近世初頭のドイツのフッガー家、19世紀ではイギリスのユダヤ系大資本家ロスチャイルド家なども君主への金品授与によって、その政治的厚遇と特権的地位とを保持した。最近のわが国においては、田中角栄(かくえい)首相誕生とその後の田中支配に金権政治の典型的な姿がみられる。すなわち、1974年（昭和49）7月の参議院選挙は「金権選挙」とよばれ、全国区では、5（億円）当（選）4落などとうわさされた。また、田中退陣後の田中支配確立のなかで、中間無派閥議員の同派への加入や、新人議員への援助、さらには、83年の参議院選挙における比例代表区候補の名簿順位決定などでは、多額の金銭が動いたとされ、「数こそ力」「金こそ力」という論理に対し、その金権的体質が問われた。それゆえ、今日では、田中的政治支配は、選挙区への利益還元政治を含めて金権政治の代名詞となっている。

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