mandarinate

noun

1. (obsolete)The status of holding a position as a mandarin.
2. The collective body of mandarins.

   “As higher education, claiming more and more years of one’s life, widens the space between those who possess it and those who do not, and as the enlightenment of the public wanes relatively to the superior enlightenment of the learned castes and professions, the mandarinate will infallibly draw to itself a greater and greater share of social power.”

   “He criticized the monarchy and the mandarinate for failing to save the country and to help the people in their hour of greatest need.”

3. A political form of rule by mandarins.
4. (figuratively)A type of government marked by excessive bureaucracy and Byzantine regulations.

   “Far from being a model of democracy, the EU is associated with an arrogant, out-of-touch mandarinate that issues rules and edicts with paternalistic and highhanded disregard for ordinary citizens.”