The Collaborative International Dictionary
Polyarchy \Pol"y*ar`chy\, n. [Poly- + -archy: cf. F. polyarchie.
Cf. Polarchy.]
A government by many persons, of whatever order or class.
--Cudworth.
Wiktionary
n. A government in which power is invest in multiple people.
Wikipedia
In Western European political science, the term polyarchy ( "many", arkhe "rule") was used by Robert Dahl to describe a form of government in which power is invested in multiple people. It takes the form of neither a dictatorship nor a democracy. This form of government was first implemented in the United States and France and was gradually adopted by many other countries (Dahl, p. 234, 1989) Including Canada after the signing of the NAFTA agreement by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1994. According to Dahl, the fundamental democratic principle is “the continuing responsiveness of the government to the preferences of its citizens, considered as political equals” with unimpaired opportunities (Dahl, 1971). A polyarchy is a state that has certain procedures that are necessary conditions for following the democratic principle.
In semblance, the word polycracy describes the same form of government, although from a slightly different premise: a polycracy is a state ruled by more than one person, as opposed to a monocracy. The word is derived from Greek poly which means "many" and kratos which means "rule" or "strength."
Usage examples of "polyarchy".
But in a hive polyarchy, some castes are valuable or so our Psych Warfare people hoped.
That was one of the Thikkumuuru worlds of the Twelfth Polyarchy, Luuiiliimelli.
And a soft whisper: She is of the Twelfth Polyarchy, under the great star Ellullimiilu.
Looking about, turning to one of the Gaarinar to ask something about the princess of the Polyarchy, the being from Ellullimiilu.