Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy (or sometimes Cleptocracy) (root: Klepto+cracy) is a form of government. It means literally "rule by thieves". It is the end-point of political corruption, where no pretence of honesty remains, and the government of a country exists solely to enrich its rulers and to perpetuate their rule. Most kleptocracies are dictatorships or some other autocratic form of government because other forms of government make theft more difficult to accomplish and conceal. Kleptocrats often use money laundering and anonymous banking as a way of protecting and concealing their ill-gotten gains.
Perhaps the most infamous case of a kleptocratic goverment was the Philippines under Marcos rule. Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda stole billions of dollars from the Filipino treasury and lived in opulence while their people struggled in poverty. Less extreme examples are Kuomintang China under Chiang Kai Shek, Suharto's Indonesia and Nazarbayev's Kazakhstan.
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