POLI 300 – Democratic Theory

January 25, 2016

Aristotle – Politics (384 -322 BCE)

- Simply talk about the day to day people ruling themselves

- Polis that state of living together as citizens

What is a citizen (polites)

 The citizen then of necessity differs under each form of government
 If you live in a monarchy your life is far different than if you live in a democracy
 Lets take democracy as the basic foundation for this model
 “he who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of
any state is said by us to be a citizen of that state; and, speaking generally, a state is
a body of citizens sufficing for the purposes of life”
 They have two different words for life (biological life as well as cultural life)
 Purposes for life – human flourishing, reaching full potential, happiness
 Talking about Athens here (taking a part of assembly, argue their own beliefs, take
part of judicial administration)
 Inclines towards democracy
 “When the state is framed upon the principles of equality and likeness, the citizens
think they ought to hold office by turns”
 Argue for decision, take part in assembly, make decisions and then obey those same
decisions you helped make
 Must be excellent at ruling and obeying to be a good citizen
 Need practical wisdom – know when to act, when to withhold action, applications of
action as well as consequences for different circumstances
 Citizens need true opinion – you are obeying because you know it is a good idea to
obey (it’s in the best interest to) you aren’t just giving in
 Power, ability, ruling by turns, excellence, respect for law, (qualities of good citizens)

Given all this is Aristotle a democrat?

 He is using democracy for a template of citizenship in general

The six regime types (organized a bit like a biological taxonomy)

 3 good types of government and 3 bad types

Good forms:
 Kingship (ruled by one)
o If a king rules in the best interests of the subjects
 Aristocracy (ruled by a few of the best)
o Wield decision-making power to help everybody flourish
 Politeia (ruled by many)
Bad forms:
 Tyranny
o Once the king starts to make decisions in his own interests
 Oligarchy
o Once they start ruling in their own self interests to advance their own riches
 Democracy
o Majority rule/poor rule make decisions for their own best interest at the
expense of the rich
 None of these have the common rule of all

In Athens there are generally thought to be only two forms of government and everything else
is simply a variation of these
 The two are oligarchy and democracy
 Six possible forms of government but the common opinion of the Greeks at the time
was that there are only two alternatives of government – most possible in this
society

Benefits of popular rule…

 Benefits of democracy over oligarchy
 If you are living in a city with millions of people not all of them will be morally good,
but when they meet together they may actually be better that a few good
 If regarded not individually but collectively in many case they will be better than the
few
 For each individual among the many has a share of excellence and practical wisdom,
and when they meet together and they learn about all the other various viewpoints
 what you get is a much better collection of knowledge and wisdom to create
better more rounded decisions

“The nature of a state is to be a plurality”

“The state, as composed of unlikes, may be composed of a living being. “

 Also end up with more stability – yes there is still a danger of a mass of citizens take
power and office, but there is also a danger in excluding many poor people for this
breeds enemies
 The only way to escape this is to grant them some deliberative and judicial functions
 Both groups of people (rich and poor) need to be included in process of state
- He realizes that different forms of government will be better for different cities (based on
population size, culture, opinion)
- It is often supposed that there are only two possibilities so you can’t attempt to propose
something completely radical because these people would never accept it. – be persuasive by
suggesting something close enough that they would possibly accept
- It must be realistically doable and practical for these people

- In every single city state we can observe that there is a fundamental social conflict. There is a
small group that have amassed wealth and are very powerful due to this wealth and then there
is a mass of poorer people. These groups have conflicting agendas
- These groups appear to be antagonistic
- The rich are in minority so they would prefer an oligarchy whereas the poor are in majority
and would prefer a democracy
- He makes a causal argument: if a majority of non-wealthy citizens achieve power over the few
rich then a democracy is set up and the reverse is also true.

-Aristotle’s solution is constitutional government [politeia]

 a mixed government that has elements of democracy and oligarchy
 Both sides can act out their conflict with one another inside a constitution by having
to deliberate with one another and resolve in a concession
 Should appear to be both elements and yet neither
 Checks and balances between the groups – work out conflicts in government rather
than on the streets with arms
 Everyone should come to see that this is good for the state
 Most people in the Greek world would be likely to accept this form of government
 Allows them to avoid a civil war which they had already been through
 Separately these forms of governments are fundamentally unjust, but together they
work
 There needs to be means in government to balance out the two extremes of these
groups (rich v. poor)

How do we maintain a (democratic) constitutional government?

Moderation!
If you want to have good government you have to have a balance of power between the
different social groups (you need a mean)
Maintain a healthy middle class
A large middle class will be much more stable – they have better character  will obey and
rule, they grew up with moderation, had enough wealth to cultivate their excellence, but not
too much wealth that it spoiled them
Inclines towards democracy
Ok to enact laws that balance out wealth and poverty
Should redistribute tax revenue among the poor to make sure the difference in classes is not
too great that strife develops between the groups.
He is not talking about it in the way of fundamental right and wrong but rather in terms of
stability (more about sustainability and balance of power – pragmatism)

Education!
“A city can be excellent only when the citizens who have a share in the government are
excellent, and in our state the citizens share in government; let us the inquire how a man
becomes excellent.”
“Excellence and good ness in the state are not a matter of chance but result of knowledge and
choice”
Choosing not to educate children results in a certain type of child as well as choosing to educate
them has a different set of consequences

Important quotes:

- Aristotle writes “a state [polis] is a body of citizens sufficing for the purposes of life” (63)
Aristotle refers to the “most eligible life” and the “best life” as the purpose of politics (166-68)
What does he mean by this?
- Good political institutions are the ones that will allow us to have the best life
- An excellent person is someone who is advanced in justice and self-reflection
- External goods, goods of the body (health, strength) and finally the goods of the soul – a
happy man will have all three
- External goods and goods of the body are essential (need moderation) – goods of the soul are
held in highest regard
- Goods of the soul: development in wisdom and morality

Athenian democracy
Council of about 500
Assembly this is where all of the citizens were invited to come and discuss some of the most
important matters. Council would advise those present and then they would vote.
This is the very essential democratic roots of Athens
Any citizen could go and they would debate back and forth and try and persuade others to their
points of view
Courts – they instituted juries for trials and they gave pay for juries so people would actually
show up
Decisions were made by citizens themselves.
Magistracies (offices) – had many different roles (war, etc.)
Pericles Praises
Being a citizen of Athens was so great due to its facets of democracy
Citizens of Athens were well educated and made decisions based on knowledge they heard at
Assembly’s
Direct political action
Speeches – deliberation aspect of this democracy
Pit Athens against Sparta because they were at war with them
People are actively involved in ruling…those who do not get involved are good for nothing
More courageous in war because they have to decide willingly and choose to go
So much more freedom in a democracy – much more tolerant of difference – it’s this rich
“thing”
Because we are much more open they have more commerce with other cities and they trade
with lots of people different from them
Public festival and Olympic games – they enjoyed their free time
Much more participation-oriented
Direct stake in politics

- The kind of city you live in is deeply character forming for the ancient