Noun
the class of people exerting power or authority
Source: WordNetCapitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class. Al Capone
The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return. Gore Vidal
A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. George Orwell
What better way for a ruling class to claim and hold power than to pose as the defenders of the nation. Christopher Hitchens
Inertia! Our ruling class knows one law; no change. Despotism! They know one rule; force. Maldistribution! They know one desire; to hold what is theirs. Isaac Asimov
A society that put more emphasis on birth than ability was likely to breed ability out of its ruling class. Damon Knight