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thing and under what circumstances it can be considered to have changed or alternatively to have been supplanted by a new state 2 iii 3 he then turns to the question of how the virtues of a person qua person line up with the virtues of a person qua citizen where they are coincident and where they may differ 2 iii 4 aristotle s classification of constitutions next aristotle classifies varieties of constitution in their good and bad forms in good ones the rulers rule in the interest of the common good in bad ones for the benefit of the rulers themselves 2 iii 6 8 varieties of constitution who rules good form bad form one person monarchy tyranny few people aristocracy oligarchy many people polity timocracy democracy the state is an association intended to enable its members in their households and the kinships to live well says aristotle its purpose is a perfect and self sufficient life so what is important is not so much who has the power but whether that power is deployed skillfully toward that end political organizations based on equality of power or on power distributed proportionally to wealth or nobility are at best approximations to this ideally those who contribute most to the association of people living together for the sake of noble action are entitled to a larger share of state authority 2 iii 9 12 justice means more than just conformity to constitutional norms whatever destroys the health of society is not just even if it was accomplished legally 2 iii 10 in chapter 11 aristotle explains the wisdom of the crowd phenomenon i t is possible that the many no one of whom taken singly is a sound man may yet taken all together be better than the few not individually but collectively 2 iii 11 this is one argument for letting a broad base of people engage in political decision making even though none of them are individually particularly qualified to do so he argues against the idea that extraordinarily virtuous people ought to be given the reins of the state rather such men we must take not to be part of the state there is no law that embraces men of that calibre they are themselves law indeed a wise state might be better off showing such people the door so that they do not become sources of political instability 2 iii 13 finally he returns to his division of varieties of constitution and begins to analyze them in greater detail beginning with varieties of monarchy tyranny 2 iii 14 18 he also explores the idea that there is a sort of natural lifecycle of states a state begins when it is founded by an outstanding individual capable of conferring benefits on others who becomes the monarch as more people of good character emerge in the state they begin to agitate for more political power and an aristocracy emerges but corruption then sets in as the aristocracy leverages their political power over the commons for economic gain oligarchy sets in followed by tyranny and then democracy such that one might say that it is hard to avoid having a democratic constitution 2 iii 14 16 book iv edit political science says aristotle should address the following questions 2 iv 1 2 what sorts of constitution are there and which are ideally best for a particular real world population given its present circumstances and capabilities which constitution would be best what are the dynamics of actual states as we find them how do they develop and decay and how can we affect this are there cookie cutter constitutional forms that can be recommended he distinguishes laws from constitutions 2 iv 1 a constitution the organization of a polis in respect of its offices generally but especially in respect of that particular office which is sovereign in all issues the laws are those according to which the rulers shall rule and shall watch out for those that transgress them of the constitutional varieties aristotle categorized in the previous book he ranks them as follows best to worst 2 iv 2 monarchy aristocracy polity democracy oligarchy tyranny aristotle says that states and the citizenry can be divided up in various ways depending on the constitutional order the purpose of the state and the nature of the society it governs at minimum a state will have organs analogous to the functional organs of a body of sorts like agricultural mechanical manufacturing commercial labor capital military judicial deliberative legislative and executive bureaucratic 2 iv 3 4 he next considers varieties of democracy including those in which the majority rules but has restraints into what they can do with that rule and those in which the majority rules utterly he says that demagogues are typically the catalyst for a democracy going rogue and exercising power irresponsibly demagogues have a similar role in a decaying democracy as toadies have in a decaying monarchy they flatter the ruler s into ever more arbitrary and selfish exercises of power 2 iv 4 there are four varieties of oligarchy those based on property those originally based on property but that you cannot just buy your way into those that are hereditary but limited by law and precedent and those that are hereditary and arbitrary 2 iv 5 6 a polity is a sort of mix of democracy and oligarchy a constitution which is a really well made combination of oligarchy and democracy aristotle says ought to look like both and like neither it tends to most empower the middle class and is most healthy if economic inequality is kept within reasonable bounds 2 iv 8 9 11 12 to prevent the majority from seizing power by force of numbers you can use a variety of financial incentives that nominally disadvantage the wealthy to keep the lower classes satisfied with giving the wealthy more power for example you can fine the wealthy for neglecting to serve on a jury but let the poor skip out without penalty 2 iv 13 aristotle next discusses the legislative element of government which he says has the following responsibilities 2 iv 14 decisions as to war and peace the making and dissolving of alliances legislation the penalties of death exile and confiscation of goods the choosing of officials and the scrutiny of their conduct on expiry of tenure the executive branch has more variety depending on the particular government its constitutional structure and how its members are chosen the judicial branch varies in this way as well it is typically divided into different varieties of court each specializing in a different sort of dispute or auditing function 2 iv 15 16 book v edit aristotle next examines political instability in greater detail beginning with factionalism according to aristotle factionalism can arise due to ordinary human biases people are biased toward self interest they usually find that people in situations like their own are not getting as much power status or resources as they deserve and they are drawn to join with others of their situation to try to improve their lot 2 v 1 3 the following causes are examples of situations that can also lead to destabilizing factionalism two large factions in a power struggle are closely matched in capabilities without a more powerful buffer institution between them such that the fruits of victory in a power struggle seem especially tempting 2 v 4 the form of government in your polis is different from those in the surrounding ones e g an oligarchy surrounded by democracies 2 v 7 if conditions like these prevail a spark can set off a fire that burns down the constitutional order that spark can be something seemingly trivial and far removed from the actual underlying causes that are causing the constitutional order to decay by the time this happens it s too late it s important to address constitutional instability before the straw breaks the camel s back 2 v 4 different sorts of constitutional orders fall in different ways democracies are most easily toppled by demagogues who either become tyrants themselves or who provoke a threatened oligarchy into seizing power to prevent a populist uprising that threatens their property and status they can also decay slowly into worse forms of democracy if too many people are given the vote and electioneering and pandering to voters becomes the main way to get political power 2 v 5 oligarchies become vulnerable when the oligarchs become haughty and abusive when powerful and jealous people are denied entry to the oligarchy or when internal intrigue divides the oligarchs demagogues can exploit these things to lead populist democratic uprisings oligarchies may also fall by temporarily ceding power to a military leader during time of war who then either refuses to relinquish power or decides to devolve it to a military junta rather than to the original oligarchs independent non political militaries can evolve into political factions of their own that can undermine oligarchies reforms for example a relaxing of property requirements to be considered a qualified oligarch can also gradually transform an oligarchy into something more resembling a democracy 2 v 6 aristocracies and polities most often fall when they economically exploit and unjustly mistreat the lower classes as in oligarchies demagogues will exploit this to agitate the lower classes and peel away their loyalty to the constitutional order polities that lean towards oligarchy or towards democracy tend to continue to slide gradually in the direction of their lean with occasional lurches in the opposite direction when the people on the other side feel wronged enough to do something about it 2 v 7 monarchies and tyrannies are undermined by resentment of injustice and ill treatment fear of things getting worse we d better overthrow the tyrant now while we still can contempt for the tyrant s character for example when the heir to the throne turns out to be inept when the tyranny confiscates property or when someone has ambitions to seize some of the honor and riches the tyrant is hoarding some of this is similar to the sources of instability in other constitutional orders but in a monarchy it s more personal the target of the resentment is usually the monarch himself rather than the constitutional order and therefore the threat is also usually to the monarch and not to the constitution the revolutionaries want vengeance more than they want to seize power 2 v 10 aristotle gives some advice about how to preserve and stabilize various types of constitutional order 2 v 8 9 11 beware of the accumulation of minor illegalities these can add up to a general contempt of the laws give non citizens a seat at the table do not deny the ambitious the honor they seek do not lock the masses out of the economy and keep those parts of the government that are democratic in nature operating in a spirit of equality and power sharing short tenures of office reduce the problem of malevolent tyrannical incompetent or factional office holders while it is good for the stability of a state that threats be kept well at bay it can also be useful to have threats close at hand because this rallies citizens around the flag and discourages internal division so it can help to invent fanciful threats if none are handy if you use wealth qualification in your oligarchy be sure to index it for inflation and changes in property values so it does not unintentionally evaporate leaving a de facto democracy behind power corrupts so do not give too much power to any individual for long beware concentrations of wealth or the accumulation of power outside of legal channels by wealthy people exile them if you have to if they grow too powerful balance any offices that have become dominated by wealthy interests strengthen the middle class you may need to set up some authority whose sole job it is to keep the polis operating according to its constitution ensure that political offices are not sources of financial profit for the officials who hold them people resent office holders robbing the public treasury or being otherwise corrupt note that if you cannot profit from being in office your institutions can be nominally democratic but only already wealthy people will be willing to take positions in them which satisfies both the democrats and the oligarchs publicly audit office holders at the end of their terms in order to prevent theft of public funds honor officials who develop a reputation for honesty in office avoid soak the rich or redistribution policies and don t encourage showy expenditures on public goods by the wealthy instead arrange your laws such that they do not facilitate the accumulation of great estates discourage ill treatment or injustice toward the poor by the rich if you can improve the balance by giving your attention and authority to those who are currently most excluded by your constitution for instance in an oligarchy consult the people in a democracy consult the oligarchs similarly your rhetoric should face in the opposite direction from your power base as head of the oligarchy call yourself the champion of the common man as head of the democracy vow to respect private property office holders should have respect for the constitution skill experience and those virtues and that sense of justice that is appropriate to the variety of constitution but given that all of these qualities are rarely found in the same person choose officials wisely and based on the requirements of the office the health of the constitution depends on more people wanting to maintain it than to overthrow it avoid alienating any portion of the population but instead try to bring everybody to the table beware of taking good sounding principles to extremes either absolute democracy or absolute oligarchy will fall victim to its excesses most importantly educate the citizenry in the virtues necessary to the constitutional order make virtuous lawful behavior the habitual norm through careful training teach democratic citizens how to exercise their roles responsibly teach oligarchs theirs as well too often in an oligarchy the sons of the rich lead idle frivolous lives and so the poor become more politically sophisticated and thereby revolutionary democracies also fail in this regard and confuse what is just and right with whatever whim the majority happens to will at any particular time a monarchy can preserve itself best by being moderate and being willing to share power or refrain from exercising power a tyrant can try this too if he cares to and ought at least to make a show of being restrained and dignified and pious in public a tyrant can maintain power by identifying and eliminating potential rivals banning independent organizations discouraging people from working together making people dependent on the government having spies among the people so that it s hard for them to know whom to trust keeping the masses at each other s throats keeping them poor so they re too busy making ends meet to rise up being often at war or on the brink of it and keeping women and slaves subjugated so that the main power struggle in society is within the people not betwee...