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Draft:Aretecracy

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  • Comment: Hard to establish notability for a concept invented by a scholar when the only sourcing is from that scholar. Drmies (talk) 20:26, 4 November 2025 (UTC)
Not to be confused with Aristocracy.

Aretecracy (from ἀρετή aretḗ, “virtue/excellence”, and κράτος krátos, “rule/power”; Spanish: Aretecracia) is a democratic proposal by legal scholar Milton Arrieta-López in which standing for public office requires a prior civic–ethical qualification and candidates then compete in ordinary universal elections.[1] Proponents describe the design as a way to professionalize political candidacy and public service through standardized prequalification and explicit control mechanisms (procedural oversight and revocation) before the electoral stage. Administration may be centralized in a national civic-ethics authority or, under uniform national standards and external auditing, delegated to accredited non-partisan institutions (for example, universities selected via competitive procedures).[2][3]

Concept and origins

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Arrieta-López outlined the idea across several works, including La Aretedemocracia o Virtudemocracia (2018), De la Democracia a la Aretecracia (2019), and a later English manuscript, Beyond Populism and Plutocracy: Aretecracy as a New Democratic Paradigm (2024).[4][2][3] He used variant labels such as Aretedemocracy/Virtuedemocracy (Spanish: Aretedemocracia/Virtudemocracia) and later Aretecracy/Aretecracia (also Aretocracy/Aretocracia). In the model, electoral competition takes place only after the civic–ethical prequalification stage.[2]

Scholarly reception and usage

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Peer-reviewed discussion includes Iriarte-Angarita (2020), who analyses the proposal (as “aretecracia/virtuscracia”) within virtue-centred democratic theory and places it in contrast to technocracy and meritocratic approaches.[1] The term also appears in independent academic contexts that cite or discuss Arrieta-López in broader debates on democracy and citizenship (e.g., Moreno, Megías & Fernández del Río, 2023; De León Vertel, 2025).[5][6]

Applications and mentions

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An NGO in consultative status (CLIPSAS) presented “Aretecracy” to the UN ECOSOC High-Level Segment in 2020 in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[7] In 2021, the Constitution and Regulations Committee of the Congress of Peru cited the proposal while discussing bills to amend the Organic Law of the Executive regarding ethical and managerial requirements for ministers of state.[8]

Safeguards and control mechanisms

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Design descriptions emphasize due-process guarantees for certifying and oversight bodies, public criteria and reasons in certification and revocation decisions, rights to appeal and judicial review, rotation and term-limits for oversight members, citizen audits, and provision for independent or international observation where appropriate.[2][3]

Criticism and debates

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Commentary on prequalification models notes potential risks including political gatekeeping, partisan capture of certifying bodies and tensions between openness and screening. Advocates point to transparency, rotation, citizen audits and independent review as safeguards.[1]

Comparison with other governance models

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Model Access to leadership Electoral process Common criticism (general)
Liberal democracy Open to all Yes Vulnerable to manipulation by money or demagogy
Technocracy Experts only No Anti-democratic elitism
Meritocracy Advancement by technical credentials Varies Overweights academic/technical metrics
Aretecracy Open with civic–ethical qualification Yes Risk of institutional bias or gatekeeping

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Iriarte-Angarita, Álvaro A. (2020). "La aretecracia/virtuscracia como objetivo teleológico de la sociedad civil del siglo XXI". Sostenibilidad, Tecnología y Humanismo (in Spanish). 11 (1): 94–106. doi:10.25213/2216-1872.40.
  2. ^ a b c d Arrieta-López, Milton (2019). "De la democracia a la aretecracia: origen, evolución y universalización". Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana (in Spanish). 24 (Extra 3): 115–132.
  3. ^ a b c Arrieta-López, Milton (2024). Beyond Populism and Plutocracy: Aretecracy as a New Democratic Paradigm (Manuscript).
  4. ^ Arrieta-López, Milton (2018). "La Aretedemocracia o Virtudemocracia: Un sistema de gobierno calificado contra las deformaciones de la democracia". Justicia (in Spanish). 23 (34): 539–554. doi:10.17081/just.23.34.3406.
  5. ^ Moreno, Cristina; Megías, Adrián; Fernández del Río, Alejandro (2023). "Retos para la democracia en el nuevo contexto de IA e IoT: Hacia una nueva ciudadanía". Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Político (in Spanish) (18): 139–155. doi:10.46661/REVINTPENSAMPOLIT.8211 (inactive 11 November 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2025 (link)
  6. ^ De León Vertel, Cecilia del Carmen (2025). "Representaciones sociales: de las prácticas democráticas y del saber elegir representantes escolares Montería Colombia". Punto Educativo (in Spanish): 702–714. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17438274.
  7. ^ Statements submitted by NGOs in consultative status (High-Level Segment), E/2020/NGO/1 (PDF) (Report). United Nations Economic and Social Council. 2020.
  8. ^ Dictamen recaído en los proyectos de ley 0048/2021-CR, 0051/2021-DP, 0055/2021-CR y 0184/2021-CR que modifica la Ley 29158 Ley Orgánica del Poder Ejecutivo para fortalecer las capacidades de gestión de los ministros de Estado (PDF) (Dictamen) (in Spanish). Congreso de la República del Perú, Comisión de Constitución y Reglamento. 2021.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading

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  • Arrieta-López, M. (2018). “La Aretedemocracia o Virtudemocracia…”. Justicia, 23(34), 539–554. doi:10.17081/just.23.34.3406.
  • Arrieta-López, M. (2019). “De la democracia a la aretecracia…”. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana, 24(Extra 3), 115–132.
  • Arrieta-López, M. (2024). Beyond Populism and Plutocracy: Aretecracy as a New Democratic Paradigm. (manuscript).
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