Artistotle and The Polity

Polity is the third best of the better kinds of regimes, according to Aristotle, ranking below monarchy and aristocracy. Below it rank the three descriptions of corrupted forms of regime, with democracy being described as the bad form of the polity regime, and tyranny and oligarchy the bad forms of kingship and aristocracy, respectively. Polity is the name Aristotle assigns to a regime that is governed by a civic body, or constitution, such that the masses are meant govern, like the monarchy and aristocracy according to the "common interest" (1279a25)--specifically, not according to the factional preferences of the body of governance.

What is central to the concept of governance, in Aristotle's formulation, is that it be disinterested and impartial, always looking to the common good of the government and governed alike and not to the benefit of those controlling the government. The reason that Aristotle ranks it behind monarchy and aristocracy owes something to the class-riven, slaveholding structure of ancient Greece, which Aristotle seems to assume as a given of social organization. What has to be understood is that Aristotle does not question the justice of slavery or for that matter class as social institution but instead assumes that they are permanent fixtures of human experience. For example, he remarks in

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teia as "the way in which a city lives" (1295a40). What that comes down to is where the power to dispose of governance issues resides. The benefit of a monarchy, which in Aristotle's view is a good form of government, is that the king is meant to govern according to the common interest. That being so, there can be no ambiguity about the authority or the goodwill intentions of the ruler. The ruled are presumed to have confidence that the king has their best interests and the interests of the polis at heart. The next best rule comes from the aristocracy, comprising (presumably) persons educated as citizens and therefore responsible for pursuing policies for the common good. Extending the governance franchise to all citizens can be accomplished by a constitution designed for the purpose, as long as they "rule with a view to the common interest" (1279a25). The multiple points of view contained in the "Many" could diffuse the ability of the multiple rulers to agree on what the common interest is, and that is where degeneration into democracy comes about, with the poor masses ruling only in their interest and thus against the interest of the few who are rich. As a practical matter, however, the tensions in government come about becaus
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