Why Are Democracy and Oligarchy the Most Important 'Constitutions' in Aristotle's View and How Do They Fundamentally Differ
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10566536 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Miroslav Novák (0000-0002-9295-9272, DTI University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 187-211 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Czech Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0288 • E-ISSN: 2336-128X |
| Publisher | Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (PUBLISHER • CZ) |
| DOI | 10.13060/csr.2023.033 |
| OpenAlex | W4378084704 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 10 |
According to Aristotle, democracy and oligarchy are empirically the most widespread and analytically fundamental ‘constitutions’. I analyse how in different places in his Politics Aristotle ‘positively’ defines and differentiates between democracy and oligarchy. At the same time, I substantiate in detail a new interpretation of Aristotle’s view that significantly differs from the current interpretation. ‘Combining’ the elements, procedures, and principles of democracy and oligarchy gives rise to mixed ‘constitutions’, a special place among which is occupied by the polity or republic, which is the best regime ‘for most states and for most people’. I show the ways in which, according to Aristotle, it is possible to form such a regime. Carl Schmitt and, later somewhat differently, Bernard Manin draw a link between Aristotle’s mixed regime and the representative democracies of today
Democracy · Economics · Oligarchy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |