Kleptocracy: Sometimes cleptocracy, occasionally kleptarchy,'s a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service. The term derives from the Greek root klepto (theft). Characteristics Kleptocracies are often dictatorships or some other form of autocratic and nepotist government, or lapsed democracies… (More on Kleptocratic)