Project Gutenberg #6762
Politics: A Treatise on Government
Aristotle
350 BCEAristotle's treatise on constitutions and civic life, prepared introduction plus book-and-chapter sections from Project Gutenberg plaintext.
Project Gutenberg #6762 Public domain in the United States Cover source Local typographic cover created for MojiMori from public-domain source metadata
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AI Summary
Chapter 33 — Book III, Chapter VII Central question What are the excellences of the different forms of government? Main argument Aristotle evaluates constitutions by their guiding ends. He distinguishes the good...
Having established these particulars, we come to consider next the
different number of governments which there are, and what they are; and
first, what are their excellencies: for when we have determined this,
their defects will be evident enough.
It is evident that every form of government or administration, for the
words are of the same import, must contain a supreme power over the
whole state, and this supreme power must necessarily be in the hands
of one person, or a few, or many; and when either of these apply their
power for the common good, such states are well governed; but when the
interest of the one, the few, or the many who enjoy this power is alone
consulted, then ill; for you must either affirm that those who make
up the community are not citizens, or else let these share in the
advantages of government. We usually call a state which is governed by
one person for the common good, a kingdom; one that is governed by
more than one, but by a few only, an aristocracy; either because the
government is in the hands of the most worthy citizens, or because it
is the best form for the city and its inhabitants. When the citizens at
large govern for the public good, it is called a state; which is also
a common name for all other governments, and these distinctions are
consonant to reason; for it will not be difficult to find one person,
or a very few, of very distinguished abilities, but almost impossible to
meet with the majority [1279b] of a people eminent for every virtue;
but if there is one common to a whole nation it is valour; for this is
created and supported by numbers: for which reason in such a state
the profession of arms will always have the greatest share in the
government.
Now the corruptions attending each of these governments are these; a
kingdom may degenerate into a tyranny, an aristocracy into an oligarchy,
and a state into a democracy. Now a tyranny is a monarchy where the good
of one man only is the object of government, an oligarchy considers
only the rich, and a democracy only the poor; but neither of them have a
common good in view.