Does Aristotle’s System of Political Classification Have Any Relevance to the Modern Day World?
Does Aristotle’s system of political classification have any relevance to the modern day world? Illustrate your answer with reference to Aristotle’s model When we trace the liberal democratic system back to its origin, we can see how the modern day liberal democratic model has been tweaked and improved from the classical model in which was introduced by Aristotle. He observed over 150 Greek city states to examine how they ran their political and economic affairs, categorizing them to the questions ‘Who rules?’ and ‘who benefits?’ From his studies, Aristotle classified six forms of political constitution: DOTMAP DEMOCRACY, OLIGARCHY, TYRANNY, MONARCHY, ARISTOCRACY AND POLITY. Aristotle’s purpose was to evaluate these forms of government in order to find the ‘ideal’ constitution. In his view, DOT DEMOCRACY, OLIGARCHY AND TYRANNY were all bad forms of government as the rulers (whether individuals, groups and masses) generally ruled in their own interests and at the expense of others. In contrast, MAP MONARCHY, ARISTOCRACY AND POLITY were found to be the preferred as they governed in the interest of all. Aristotle’s idea of democracy varies to the modern day, as we now see democracy as a government by the people in the interest of all. However there are two main aspects of Aristotle’s classification of democracy in which are still relevant to the modern day liberal democratic system and these are EQUALITY AND FREEDOM. These principles are reflected on all citizens (the people) being equal before the law and having equal access to power. In a representative democracy, every vote has equal weight and no restrictions can be applied to any person wanting to become a representative. The modern day liberal democratic system allows the people to vote who they would like to represent them and make decisions on their behalf. This is classed as a representative democracy in which the political office is secured through an election process. Aristotle believed that