Over the years there has not been a consensus by political researchers and philosophers on the idea of Aristotle on politics due to differences such as his belief in the inferiority of women and his acceptance of slavery. However, his views on the relationship between the citizens and that of the political community, active participation in politics if they are to achieve happiness and his analysis of the prevention and causes of a revolution have been a source of knowledge for contemporary theorists, mainly those unhappy with the liberal political philosophy( Mijuskovic pp. 14-19). His writing in the field called “politics,” classified the forms of government into three including aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy which were all based on the common good of people( Mijuskovic pp. 14-19). Moreover, he analyses the kinds of political community that existed during his time and how these states fall short of his ideal society of virtuous citizens. The paper emphasizes the forms of government, legislative rule and the importance of city-states.
Aristotle three choice forms of government
Aristotle argued that societies can be organized in three general ways under political rule depending on the common interests of people and that of the rulers. The three groups include aristocracy which refers to the government by one individual who proved to be morally and intellectually superior that governs the interests of the community. Additionally, he defined oligarchy as the corrupt form of an aristocracy whereby ruling was made by few wealthy self-interested people that disregarded the less fortunate. Finally, democracy is a rule by the people where power lies on them and decisions on issues are made by voting or electing representatives to make decisions on their behalf(Zalta pp. 1-9).
Purpose and establishment of political rule in a city-state
For a society to maintain recognized procedures for allocation of valued resources, it must have a political system with a formal institution that is involved in law and decision-making processes. Aristotle acknowledges that allowing the governing body or the laws to have full sovereignty provides room for abuse of power and polity is the least susceptible to corruption, especially if the law is given more power than the governing body. Aristotle based analysis on politics around the government of city-states and believed that these were a natural part of human existence (Zalta pp. 1-9). Moreover, he argued that the reality of the city-state is due to the presence of a ruling element. He states that a political rule is natural and is established by the development of the city-state based on nature with the first existing because of primitive natural associations that serve as their end due to the attainment of self-sufficiency (Zalta pp. 1-9). Further, human beings being political animals by design can communicate moral values such as justice and responsibility which are necessary for the formation of a household and city-state. Finally, since the individuals cannot perform their functions without a state, they cannot achieve self-sufficiency hence require the combination of several families to work together(Hittinger pp. 10-16). Therefore, everyone has an impulse for a political community but whoever established it first is the cause of the benefits and becomes the lawgiver for the legal system that the city applies
Deviations of the preferred legislative rule
According to Aristotle, there are valid forms of government and defective and preventive forms. He states that “the true forms of government are those in which the one, or the few, or many, govern to the common interest; but governments which rule to private interest are perversions.” (Zalta pp. 1-9) .The worst political rule is the tyranny which is a form of monarchy that is only concerned with the interests of the monarch and does not delegate authority to assistants then the oligarchy which ignores the views of the needy and none of them emphasizes on the common good of all. Further, he cautioned against extreme democracy which leads to demagogues by stating that, “demagogues make decrees of the people, override the laws and refer all things to the popular assembly” (Zalta pp. 1-9). The best political rule is the polity which is a mixture of both democracy and oligarchy and governs for the interest of all and is dependent on the quality of leadership resulting in a common interest.
Role of sufficiency in crafting the ideal polis
The polis refers to a small self-sufficient and independent region governed by its citizens preferably the elite class. The form of association is described by Aristotle as “koinonia” whereby people living in the same place share a venture in which all citizens take part in thus there are no perceived conflicts between individuals (Hittinger pp. 10-16). Consequently, reducing the needs of an individual to the point at which they can procure it themselves by making life choice-worthy, Aristotle states that, “the self-sufficient we define as that which when alone makes life choice worthy and lacking in nothing: and such we think eudemonia to be.” Moreover, he states that the principle value of politics is to establish the best practicable regime defined by ethical qualities of the power holders and thus not only accomplishes the best form of government but also achieves a good life for its citizens( Mijuskovic pp. 14-19).
Conclusion
The most significant way to organize the state is through creating a form of government that provides happiness for its citizens and according to Aristotle, the polity of ideal democracy met his criteria by allowing for the development of virtues that support common interest. Despite, his analysis experiencing several limitations when applied to modern politics due to his view about women and slaves, his political theories are significant since current governments are mixed with constitutions governing bigger sizes than Aristotle ever researched on.
Works Cited
Mijuskovic, Olivera Z. "Aristotle's Concept of the State." Socrates: Scholarly Research Journal 4.4 (2016): 14-19.
Hittinger, John . "Plato and Aristotle on the Family and the Polis." The Saint Anslem Journal 8.2 (2013): 10-16.
Zalta, Edward N. "Aristotle's Political Theory." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2.1 (2017): 1-9. Sunday April 2018.
