Aristocracy

Aristocracy originally denoted the government of a state by its best citizens. Later, these best citizens denoted the rich and well-born, and then the nobility. Thus it came to mean the highest class in certain societies who generally held hereditary titles, offices, or rights. Aristocracy even denoted a group regarded as privileged or superior in a particular sphere, or the form of government in which power is held by the nobility, or a state governed by the aristocracy.

It should be noted that aristocracy is a rule by a traditional elite, held to be made up of 'the best' people, and is usually hereditary.