Were small amounts of privileged members rule over peasants usually. Lots of time they were born into power.See 16-18th century Poland, all of Europe mostly in the middle ages etc. The opposite of democracy. Roots came from the ancient Greeks. The French revolution was mainly focused on stopping the aristocratic government in France by letting every person have a political influence to some degree. Basically a bunch of glorified pricks ruling due to wealth or being born into the position of power ruling and being dicks to everyone else.