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    Aristotle Views On Constitution PDF

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    Gaurav Pandey
    Aristotle studied over 158 Greek city-state governments to develop a classification system. He categorized governments based on who rules - one, a few, or many - and whether the ruler(s) govern in the public or self-interest. Aristotle identified six forms of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, polity (constitutional democracy), and democracy. He believed power without checks leads to instability and proposed a mixed constitution combining rule by a few educated elites and ratification by the many as a stable form of government.

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    Aristotle Views On Constitution PDF

    Uploaded by

    Gaurav Pandey
    108 views4 pages
    Aristotle studied over 158 Greek city-state governments to develop a classification system. He categorized governments based on who rules - one, a few, or many - and whether the ruler(s) govern in the public or self-interest. Aristotle identified six forms of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, polity (constitutional democracy), and democracy. He believed power without checks leads to instability and proposed a mixed constitution combining rule by a few educated elites and ratification by the many as a stable form of government.

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    Aristotle studied over 158 Greek city-state governments to develop a classification system. He categorized governments based on who rules - one, a few, or many - and whether the ruler(s) govern in the public or self-interest. Aristotle identified six forms of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, polity (constitutional democracy), and democracy. He believed power without checks leads to instability and proposed a mixed constitution combining rule by a few educated elites and ratification by the many as a stable form of government.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    108 views4 pages

    Aristotle Views On Constitution PDF

    Uploaded by

    Gaurav Pandey
    Aristotle studied over 158 Greek city-state governments to develop a classification system. He categorized governments based on who rules - one, a few, or many - and whether the ruler(s) govern in the public or self-interest. Aristotle identified six forms of government: monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, polity (constitutional democracy), and democracy. He believed power without checks leads to instability and proposed a mixed constitution combining rule by a few educated elites and ratification by the many as a stable form of government.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Aristotle and his classifica on of

    governments and cons tu ons


    The father of the science of poli cs owes the tle to his
    name because he employed empirical inquiry as to his
    method. Aristotle was troubled by the instability that
    existed in Greek city-states' governments. He studied
    over 158 case histories of various city-states by sending
    his students to prepare case studies of various
    cons tu ons. He analysed almost 160 case histories. To
    be precise, it is believed that he analysed 158 case
    histories.
    The case history of Athens is an important source to
    understand his classifica on of the cons tu ons. One
    can understand this fact based on two factors:
    1. The number of individuals ruling the
    state: whether it is one person ruling the state, a
    few individuals or if it is a rule of many.
    2. The intent of the ruler or rulers: whether the ruler
    is ruling for his state's interest (known as a normal
    form of government), or whether the ruler is
    looking a er his self-interest (known as a
    perverted form of government).

    Aristotle’s Classifica on of Government


    Public Interest Selfish Interest

    The One Monarchy Tyranny

    The Few Aristocracy Oligarchy

    The Many Cons tu onal Democracy Democracy

    (Source: poli calsciencereview.com)


     If it is the rule of ONE, then it would be
    MONARCHY or a Kingship in an ideal form of
    government, or it would be despo sm or TYRANNY
    in a perverted form.
     If the rule is by FEW, it would be ARISTOCRACY in
    an ideal form of government or OLIGARCHY in a
    perverted form.
     If the rule is by MANY, it would be POLITY or a
    cons tu onal government as the ideal form of
    government, and interes ngly, DEMOCRACY in a
    perverted form.
    According to Aristotle, without any adequate checks on
    a ruler's power, no form of government would be
    stable. He believes that power and virtue cannot
    coexist.
    He has provided the cycle of change of governments
    over me. Kingship, a normal form of government,
    turns to tyranny when there is an absence of control
    over the monarch's power. Tyranny leads to a rebellion
    or a revolu on by a few individuals who establish an
    aristocracy. Aristocracy can deteriorate and turn into an
    oligarchy, the perverted form. With me, a greater
    many rebels against oligarchy and supersede it with
    polity. Polity further decays in democracy when the
    many rulers begin to seek their self-interest. In the end,
    a single individual who seems virtuous establishes a
    monarchy, and the progression of ideal form and
    perverted form con nues in a circular mo on.

    Mona Tyran Aristoc Oligar Poli Democ


    rchy > ny > racy > chy > ty > racy >

    norma perve perve nor perver


    normal
    l rted rted mal ted

    Aristotle gave the concept of a mixed constitution as a solution to prevent


    instability and establish a lasting form of government in the Greek city-state. He
    employed his idea of the "Golden Mean" to create stability. In his book "Ethics",
    he explains the Golden Mean as a middle path, which means that virtue lies
    between two extremes. Anything on an extreme end becomes a vice, and each
    virtue lies in the middle of the two extremes. For instance, courage is a virtue
    that lies between the two extremes of timidity and negligence.
    Conclusion

    His solu on to bring a stable form of government is the


    combina on of rule by few and rule by many. He
    discarded Monarchy because it would be corrupt from
    absolute power. Aristocracy would suit because few
    would make the rules. This would comprise the chosen
    minority who are educated and rich. However, in case
    of no checks on aristocracy, it would deteriorate. To
    prevent that, Aristotle suggests that the decisions
    made by the aristocracy should be ra fied by the
    ordinary many. He says that "the people, though
    individually they may be worse judges than those who
    have special knowledge, are collec vely as good".

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