Academy of Ideas

Kakistocracy – Are We Ruled By the Worst?

“Is ours a ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ or a Kakistocracy, rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?” (James Russell Lowell, letter in 1876)  Kakistocracy is a word that means ...

2026-10-24
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“Is ours a ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ or a Kakistocracy, rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?” (James Russell Lowell, letter in 1876)  Kakistocracy is a word that means “rule by the worst”. It is derived from the Greek words kakistos, meaning “worst,” and kratos, […]


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