Thanks everyone!
I have this from a website:
Politics is the highest form of human expression, according to Aristotle and the state is the highest form of politics. Because the state is the culmination of debate and speech, and it is the end result of man’s highest expression of sociability, it is that which distinguishes man from the animals. (In this thought, Thomas Jefferson agreed)
Aristotle proposed that there are six types, or forms of government that accomplish the distribution of political power. Three are good forms and three are considered “bad” forms, although in varying degrees. The most desirable form is the monarchy (rule by one), followed by aristocracy (rule by a few), followed by polity (rule by many).
The least desirable forms of government are tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy and these represent the “arch-types” or the perverted manifestations of the desirable forms.
The distinctions between “good” and “bad” forms have largely to do with economics and class-struggle (a theme echoed by Karl Marx fifteen centuries later) and the notion that tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy will always act in their own class interest rather than in the best interest of the whole society.
Aristotle’s is considered by many to mark the beginning of Western Traditional Political Philosophy partly because it is the first include the notion of plurality in politics. He also did not ignore the realities of life and of the human condition by insisting, as did Plato, that the “ideal” was the only reality.
Does that mean anything to anyone?
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