The article reminds us that there are different forms of government with different political principles and forms of operation, highlighting two of them: democracy and oligarchy. It clarifies the conceptual definition of both forms of government by pointing out the characteristics defined by political theory. Oligarchies, having greed as a principle, establish a form of government in which money and wealth are decisive in all operations to be carried out, thus generating multiple corrupt practices. These practices have been transferred to the democracies causing them to alter or modify their forms of operation; hence we have “corrupt democracies”. The work combines the conceptual part with practical examples about the realities of the governments of contemporary countries and denies ideological arguments about democracy.