A corporatocracy is defined as a form of government where an organization specifically created for the purpose of governing takes over the usual functions of government in a State. This organization may take the form of a corporation established under existing laws, a specialized organization created under its own authority, or an entirely autonomous entity which supersedes all existing forms of government.
A corporatocracy differs form similar forms of government such as an oligarchy or a one-party state in that the governing entity is wholly separate and superior to the individuals who belong to it, and in that it has no connection or pretense of connection to expressions of popular will. The organization will usually act according to the interests of the elites which established it and belong to it (in the majority of cases); however, the organization’s members may become a new elite and displace the preexisting power structure.
Unlike political parties or person-based power systems, the governing entity may forgo the creation or adoption of a guiding ideology or philosophy; its legitimacy is sourced entirely from its monopoly on force and its ability to deliver the results desired by its founders and stakeholders. Failure to deliver these results will result in a replacement of its members or the replacement by a new government entity or a new power structure.
The best-known examples of a corporatocracy on the Vex are the Ferratus Directorate, where a corporate structure evolved from theocratic origins, the Ulnovabadian Tri-Chamber structure, and the TDCorp management structure in Otéagu, Apshograd and, recently, the former North Cape.