1) Sociological terminology 
A heterarchy is a system of organization where the elements of the organization are unranked (non-hierarchical) or where they possess the potential to be ranked a number of different ways. Definitions of the term vary among the disciplines: in social and information sciences, heterarchies are networks of elements in which each element shares the s...
government by a foreign ruler
• (n.) The government of an alien.
Het'er·arch`y noun [ Hetero- + -archy .] The government of an alien. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hall. 
heterarchy Rule of a government by an alien or aliens; a government in which aliens rule.