How many countries have an aristocracy government?

Question

I am trying to figure out how many countries have an aristocracy government. Please say how many and the names of them. Thanks!

Answer 1

The prime example is the USA, although it doesn't have the formal structure of an aristocracy, that's what it is.

Answer 2

The United States may be a plutocracy - rule by the wealthy.  But aristocracy is too broad of a term.  An aristocracy is connected more with a family or the heritage of a particular people.  One example would be Mexico.  The Castillans (descendants of the original Spanish settlers) tend to be the elite upper class in Mexico.  They differ from the population in that they're of European descent where the typical Mexican is half Spaniard and half Native American.  Spanish men raped Indian women when they came over to the Americas.  

As for how many countries are ruled by an aristocracy, I doubt it officially any country.  Almost every country is a democracy, theocracy, or monarchy.  

Answer 3

That is pretty difficult because the context differs.

Answer 4

Because of 18th century ideals of egalitarianism, inspired by the French Revolution, there are no governments that are formally aristocracies.  Nor are there any governments that acknowledge themselves to be aristocracies.  However, many people believe that the ideals that underlie that form of government still exist in reality, if not by that name.

A well cited example for a de facto aristocracy is Russia.  In Russia, more that 80% of that countries wealth is in the hands of less than 20% of the population.  Additionally much of the political power in the country is handed back and forth between old time soviet era powerbrokers.  However, labeling a country as an aristocracy is a subjective and difficult thing.  In the present, no country likes to be called an aristocracy because of the negative implications.  Few now remeber it as the vibrant form of benevolent government it was believed to be in the middle ages.  The country that is most definitely and formally an aristocracy would be the Vatican.