Wherever magistrates were appointed from among those who complied with the injunctions of the laws Socrates considered the government to be an aristocracy.
Whatever crushes individuality is despotism by whatever name it may be called and whether it professes to be enforcing the will of God or the injunctions of men.
I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'.