The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

others,
the conduct of public affairs.
VI
    Having determined these questions, we have next to consider
whether there is only one form of government or many, and if many,
what they are, and how many, and what are the differences between
them.
    A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state,
especially of the highest of all. The government is everywhere
sovereign in the state, and the constitution is in fact the
government. For example, in democracies the people are supreme, but
in oligarchies, the few; and, therefore, we say that these two
forms of government also are different: and so in other cases.
    First, let us consider what is the purpose of a state, and how
many forms of government there are by which human society is
regulated. We have already said, in the first part of this
treatise, when discussing household management and the rule of a
master, that man is by nature a political animal. And therefore,
men, even when they do not require one another’s help, desire to
live together; not but that they are also brought together by their
common interests in proportion as they severally attain to any
measure of well-being. This is certainly the chief end, both of
individuals and of states. And also for the sake of mere life (in
which there is possibly some noble element so long as the evils of
existence do not greatly overbalance the good) mankind meet
together and maintain the political community. And we all see that
men cling to life even at the cost of enduring great misfortune,
seeming to find in life a natural sweetness and happiness.
    There is no difficulty in distinguishing the various kinds of
authority; they have been often defined already in discussions
outside the school. The rule of a master, although the slave by
nature and the master by nature have in reality the same interests,
is nevertheless exercised primarily with a view to the interest of
the master, but accidentally considers the slave, since, if the
slave perish, the rule of the master perishes with him. On the
other hand, the government of a wife and children and of a
household, which we have called household management, is exercised
in the first instance for the good of the governed or for the
common good of both parties, but essentially for the good of the
governed, as we see to be the case in medicine, gymnastic, and the
arts in general, which are only accidentally concerned with the
good of the artists themselves. For there is no reason why the
trainer may not sometimes practice gymnastics, and the helmsman is
always one of the crew. The trainer or the helmsman considers the
good of those committed to his care. But, when he is one of the
persons taken care of, he accidentally participates in the
advantage, for the helmsman is also a sailor, and the trainer
becomes one of those in training. And so in politics: when the
state is framed upon the principle of equality and likeness, the
citizens think that they ought to hold office by turns. Formerly,
as is natural, every one would take his turn of service; and then
again, somebody else would look after his interest, just as he,
while in office, had looked after theirs. But nowadays, for the
sake of the advantage which is to be gained from the public
revenues and from office, men want to be always in office. One
might imagine that the rulers, being sickly, were only kept in
health while they continued in office; in that case we may be sure
that they would be hunting after places. The conclusion is evident:
that governments which have a regard to the common interest are
constituted in accordance with strict principles of justice, and
are therefore true forms; but those which regard only the interest
of the rulers are all defective and perverted forms, for they are
despotic, whereas a state is a community of freemen.
VII
    Having determined these points, we have next to consider how
many forms of government there are, and what they are; and in the
first place what are the true forms, for when they are determined
the perversions of them will at once be apparent. The words
constitution and government have the same meaning, and the
government, which is the supreme authority in states, must be in
the hands of one, or of a few, or of the many. The true forms of
government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or
the many, govern with a view to the common interest; but
governments which rule with a view to the private interest, whether
of the one or of the few, or of the