Aristotle on Democracy
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009

The issue of democracy has been a subject of much debate over the years and many philosophers have had something to say about it. Aristotle is one of the great philosophers from Athens whose contributions to this subject remain notable. He studied democratic governments, their compositions, variety and stability and came up with his own views which were adopted later by those interested in the theory of democracy. The design of political institutions and the welfare of the citizen was his area of interest.

Aristotle views democracy as when the poor rule exclusively in their own interest. By this, he means the rule of many as opposed to a select few and in this way, virtues prevail. According to him, political functions should be divided between the rich and the poor so that there is some balance in the two classes. This is his idea of a practicable state, one which combines oligarchy and democracy. He does not support the idea of people holding office singly or a group of people for that matter. In his search for the perfect constitution he differentiated the government that served the needs of individuals and that which served the needs of the whole nation.

On the issue of equality, Aristotle says that those who are equally free should be absolutely equal and his democracy is based on this notion. He talks about democratic constitutions and social classes and how they may prevail in the same condition. For example, democratic constitutions cannot work in anti-democratic social conditions. Aristotle’s democratic government simply takes care of the needy by letting them rule themselves.

Aristotle also describes his idea of a democratic government as a polity. His polity form of government is the one ruled by the middle class in the society. The middle class are the ones between the many poor and the few rich. Hence Aristotle does not really support democratic governments but the ones he calls polity. This polity governance is sort of a mixed ruling in that it combines democracy, oligarchy and aristocracy. This type of governance was the one that served the nation as a whole because it considered the interests of the majority.

The democratic ideas brought forward by Aristotle can be used and apply to modern forms of governance. He was a great thinker and although he was concerned with the society he lived in, his aim was not to change it but to make it better.

And this lecture of Yale University on Aristotle focuses on controlling conflict between factions. Polity as a mixture of the principles of oligarchy and democracy.