Aristotle identifies three models of government or regimes: first, the regime ruled by one person; second, the regime ruled by a few, and the regime ruled by many. Each of the three categories has two subcategories depending on the interests each regime serves, which are either the good of all or private interests. According to Aristotle’s classification, Atlantia is the country with the established aristocracy regime. Aristotle defines aristocracy as the regime, where a few rules for the good of all. Regarding Atlantia, there is a small group that comprises Patria, the ruling party which is the only political party that has access to power and controls the government, both legislative and the executive branch. Therefore, Patria comprises
He pointed out the flaws of the four main political systems, and sought a new way of government. He came up with a subsidiary of a democracy, called, as his book was, a republic. This new form of government would have leaders be elected by the people they governed, and lead to the new political concept of popular sovereignty. This meant that in a democracy or republic, if citizens felt that who they elected wasn’t doing a good job, they wouldn’t have to re-elect them. On the other hand, Aristotle denounced Plato's idea of an “ideal state,” in his book titled The Politics. Instead of trying to theorize an ideal state, Aristotle took a more practical approach in trying to make a Constitution that could be easily implemented. He divided some of the types of governments in Greece into either “True,” or “Defective.” After researching he figured that the easiest to implement and least problematic was a system called a polity. hybrid between an oligarchy and a democracy that would uprise with a strong, educated middle class. It is also referred to as a “Middle Class Polity.” In ancient Rome, they implemented a republic, and the Romans
These views were evident, and perhaps promoted, due to the continual control of government by aristocrats. These rulers sought to improve their own interests over those of the poleis, and promoted their own values and ideas. Aristotle believed that the best form of governing should be decided by those governed and, although he believed democracy to be the best of the examples of government, believed that voting would both satisfy the citizens’ desire for equality and avoid revolutions such as those that result from the tyrannies that had come before.
The term aristocracy comes from the Greek word aristos, meaning the best. Aristocracy therefore is roughly translated into meaning ‘rule by the best’ (Hooker R 1997). This encompasses the ideas of an aristocratic society. Within Plato’s book, The Republic, he outlines the basis of an aristocratic society being split into three groups. Socrates describes them as being the gold, silver and bronze or iron (Plato 380 BC). Though the gold class rules over the others it is not considered and more valuable than the others classes. Whether someone was a warrior or a blacksmith they all had a key job to uphold within society and none were considered above an others for things like status and wealth, unlike that of an oligarchic society. In an aristocracy people are placed into careers and hierarchies almost from birth, normally, but
Throughout the time of recorded history, humans have had the natural desire for protection and order. That desire is where government comes in. There have been many forms of government throughout history, according to Aristotle, there have only been two types, oligarchies and democracies. Aristotle goes on to say that there are variations of these governments; for example, an aristocracy is considered to be an oligarchy where the wealthy land owners make the decisions in government. Later in that same paragraph, he states that a republic is a form of democracy; these are not the only variations of democracies and oligarchies as there are many variations of these two types of government along the spectrum (Aristotle 3). Societies all through history have one thing in common, they all had some form of government; This raises the question though, what is the difference between a good and bad government?
There are many types of modern and historic governments. The form of government a nation has is influenced by their past government and the specific circumstances in the country. There are many variations of essentially similar forms of government. All forms of government can be simplified into a classification as either limited or unlimited.
Other forms of government is Anarchy (everyone or no one) , Monarchy and Dictatorship ( ruled by one, king or queen). Two forms of government is Dictatorship and Democracy. We have direct democracy where individuals vote directly. Dictatorship is the ruling of one. Although there are different sorts of dictatorship, we have communism which is the government structure that only meets the basic needs of its population. The Monarchy dictatorship is the subcategory, where the people in power have the power by birth right and are inherited. These two types of government are totally opposite of each other and they both have their advantages and
Oligarchy comes from the Greek words “oligos” meaning “few” and “archo” meaning “rule”. Essentially “oligarchy” means “rule of the few in their own interests and not in the interest of the majority or the public good.” (Melville, 2011). Melville states that oligarchy was a “degeneration” of aristocracy as stated by Aristotle. Oligarchies were the most common form of government in the Ancient Greek city-states. In Sparta, the Gerousia (council of twenty-eight men over sixty-year of age together with the two kings) was an elite assembly dominated by the wealthier members of Spartan society. The Gerousia approved all laws that were submitted to the popular assembly for vote. The Ephors were a group of five men who were elected annually for a single term of office. The Ephors usually deferred to the guidance of the Gerousia (Brand, n.d.).
In Aristotle's Politics, he focuses much on the regimes of an oligarchy and of a democracy. Democracies exists when the free and poor, being a majority, have authority to rule, and have an equal share in the city. Oligarchies exists when the few wealthy and better born have authority and grant benefits in proportion to a person's wealth (1280a:10-30;1290a:5-10).
Second, the definition of an aristocracy is “a government or state ruled by an aristocracy, elite, or privileged upper class (Dictionary.com, 2017).” Ancient Greek city-states that had an aristocracy included Athens, as well as Sparta. Both city-states had a period of their history ruled by an elite class (Brand, n.d.). The form of governance most like aristocracy are oligarchies, since the definition of the two is almost identical. The form of governance most unlike aristocracy are probably the democracies, because there are more people involved in democracies, and they don’t include as much of a concentration of power or a concentration of wealth.
There are three types of government and they are all different. When the U.S. first become independent they has to choose which type of government that they thought would fit them and their needs the best. There are many ways that the types of government work.
Government is an essential part of civilization in modern and historic times. This crucial element of society has been observed in different forms. There are three main systems of governments: autocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. Which system a government belongs to is determined by who hold the sovereignty, meaning who has the supreme power and authority (“Sovereignty”). This leads to there being major differences between autocracies, oligarchies, and democracies.
Democracy is often referred to as the rule of the many, but Aristotle called this definition incomplete. In his book “Politics”, he explained that in a city if the majorities are aristocrats and if they have political authority, then it is an aristocracy not a democracy. He therefore defined democracy as when “free people have authority and Oligarchy as when the wealthy have it” (1290b). Plato viewed Democracy as a flawed system with too much inefficiency that would make any implementation of a true democracy not worth it. While Aristotle viewed democracy as a system that could work if it is limited to certain restrictions and if it is the regime that best fits the culture of the people to be governed. In this essay it will be argued that Plato’s view on democracy as a flawed system is more prevalent or more compelling if the current political arena around the world is observed.
Aristocratic Government – the rule by few elites. Its success is depended on the people that rule. It however degenerates into oligarchy which is when men of property take over government.
The second type of government is a republic. A republic is any government that does not have a monarch. Republics are also divided into three classes. A republic can be classified as a dictatorship, an oligarchy, or a democracy.
In his ground-breaking text The Politics, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was a staunch advocate of a mixed constitution. A mixed constitution is a form of government in which there is an amalgamation of characteristics that comprise differing types of constitutions. There are a plethora of reasons that are argued to have contributed to his adoption of this stance. However, this essay will hone in on three that are posited to be crucial: firstly, the well-known philosophical principle that two extremes cancel out the worst excesses in each other, from which stability will result; secondly, […] ; and thirdly, […] Prior to a discussion that will ensue on why and the grounds on which Aristotle advocates a mixed constitution, this