In the former Communist countries all posts were at the disposal of the party. Those who could be appointed were on the list of names approved by the party. This list was usually known by the Russian term of Nomenklatura which also applied to the ruling group. Many of the former nomenklatura are now the heads of the new privatized industries.

(In Britain the equivalent is known as the Great and the Good - the people who head Quangos, Royal Commissions, Nationalized Industries, the BBC governors and so on).

It is also used loosely for the members of a modern informal oligarchy .