What is oligarchy and does it have a place in Bulgaria?

One of the most frequently repeated words by the protesters in recent months is 'oligarchy'. They use it to describe the current economic and political model of Bulgaria - the real power in the hands of a handful of people directly connected to the state apparatus, who use all their available resources to enrich themselves at the expense of others. This is where the joking nickname of the prime minister, disliked by almost the entire population, comes from - "Oligarchy" - who in the eyes of the people is the embodiment and the focal point of this corrupt system.

And what is oligarchy, actually? The term is as old as democracy itself – it can be found for the first time in Aristotle’s Politics, where the Greek philosopher uses it to designate one of the six main types of political system. Aristotle builds oppositions between good and bad political systems according to the decision-making model[1]. In his classification, systems in which power is in the hands of a small ruling clique are divided into aristocracies and oligarchies. And while aristocratic systems assume rulers who are mainly concerned with preserving honesty and legal order in the polis (which in some sense comes close to modern ideals of representative democracy), oligarchs view the political community as an enterprise in which they have special power and authority, which they can abuse for their own benefit. In this sense, Aristotle’s definition is in line with today’s understanding of oligarchy.

While in ancient times the easiest way to create an oligarchy was by force of arms, today it is most often done through the instruments of the democratic state. The process of its creation is most accurately described by Robert Michels in “Political Parties”, where he defines his “iron law of oligarchy” [2]. According to him, any system that delegates and legitimizes power to a certain group over the majority inevitably gives rise to oligarchy. The reason for this is the principle of accumulation of power – any power structure always tries to include as many powers as possible within its scope until it achieves complete control over society.

Michels states that even a seemingly democratic structure is inevitably dominated by its leaders, who carry the burden of decision-making; for this reason, there are no “representative” democracies in reality, since decisions are made mostly in the interests of the rulers. Thus, a political oligarchy inevitably forms. The final step in the formation of an oligarchy in the modern sense of the word is the fusion of political and economic interests - in the conditions of a state apparatus with broad powers, it is much easier for business to develop with the help of a system of mutual services with state power than in conditions of free competition[3].

The most popular example of such an oligarchic system today is Russia. Studies of the phenomenon there[4] describe the relationship between the oligarchy and political power as a complete fusion. On the one hand, using their political connections, the oligarchs have managed to monopolize a number of spheres of the economy, completely crowding out competition with the help of the state. At the same time, the oligarchs exercise complete control over politics, especially at the low level - the entire local administration is made up of pawns, the orders for whose actions come directly from the oligarchs. At the national level, the votes provided by the oligarchic circles allow the leaders of “United Russia” to govern the country independently, without worrying about opposition, and their parliamentary majority is made up of interchangeable people's representatives, who play the role of a “rubber stamp” on the decisions of the elite.

This is what a complete oligarchic system looks like. What is the situation in Bulgaria today? The Forbes magazine ranking published a few days ago clearly indicates who the most influential people in the country are. The first place is taken by the owner of the Corporate Commercial Bank, which is well known for housing a large part of the money of state-owned companies[5].

The remaining seats go to the owners of Chimiport, Lukoil Bulgaria and First Investment Bank – businesses closely linked to the state government. Public enemy number one of the last few months – Delyan Peevski, a representative of both the big media business and the current parliamentary majority – also finds a place here. The top ten is completed by politicians Sergey Stanishev and Ahmed Dogan – the de facto leaders of the two ruling parties at the moment. As for politics, the 42nd National Assembly features a relatively stable coalition between the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the Bulgarian People’s Rights Movement and the Bulgarian National Front, and in some cases even the opposition in the form of GERB supports their decisions[6].

Is there an oligarchy in Bulgaria?

The connections between business and politics are obvious, and although the model is not yet as comprehensive and deeply rooted as the one in Russia, if the current political course is not changed, the future is undoubtedly this. If we return to Aristotle and Michels - what awaits us in this case? Absolute power of a political and economic clique, which makes all decisions in public life behind the mask of representative democracy and pro-forma capitalism. This, of course, will happen at the expense of the interests of everyone else and the overall development of the country. For this reason, the dismantling of the current model is not only necessary, but also cannot be postponed.

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