The Argument of Aristotle About Polity (Case Study Sample)

Political Science
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1 Explain how and why Aristotle argues polity is a more just regime than both democracy and oligarchy, despite being a “mixture” of the two.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who concentrated on the theme of human happiness concerning the type of government organization. He argued that a system of government was expected to enhance the comfort of the subject rather than subjecting them to unnecessary pressure that might affect their level of happiness within states. Aristotle tries to explain the different forms of state and navigate through to ensure pointing out to the most that fulfilled people’s will. He categorized the government in the monarchy, which was a dictatorial government, the aristocracy government that involved a few elites and people from the royal families. Lastly, the polity involved many people and hence stressed on the democracy of the people.
Monarchy was the true or the original form of government, while aristocracy and the polity were defective governments that tended to add or dilute the monarchy form of government. The original form of government that concentrated on the common interest. The pervasive form of government revolves around the private interest. Therefore, the Tyranny represented the monarchy that was focused on stratifying the interest of the monarchy. The oligarchy form of government capitalized on the interest of the wealthy in society. Additionally, the democracy revolved around the satisfaction of the common good of all in the society especially the needy
During the Aristotelian time, the state was considerably small compared to the present states. Thus according to Aristotle, any democratic government the subject could participate directly to the covert by public participation in open meeting or councils. Despite the expansion of the currents states, the concept of the democratic government still remains the same. People can choose the leaders they want through voting, and everyone is free to run the campaign to get the highest office.
Additionally, Aristotle believed that Democratic government and oligarch consisted of the most common forms of governments, which only differed on the aspect of power allocations. Thus, the most significant difference between the democratic government and the oligarchy constitutes poverty and wealth. Aristotle was opposed to the concept of democracy, as he argued the democratic man was mainly concerned about defending his wealth. Further, in the government, the men exercised power by the use of reason according to their wealth hence in the Democratic government, the poor rules while in the oligarch the rich ruled.
Polity type of government revolves around the organization of government where a group of individuals or institutions are connected by a political agreement that forms a governing unit. It depends on the size of the institutions and their unitary contributions to the success of the system. Sometime ii involve a hierarchy structuring of the governing system according to the power allocated to each group and its jurisdiction.
According to Aristotle, the best form of government should provide a distinct aspect of the rulers and the subject and the benefits of those with a common interest. Therefore, he proposed a fair government that consisted of the various branches that controlled the ruled and the rulers as no single individual had the power rule, everybody. Hence, he suggested the introduction of the law in the governing units to control the powers and the subjects. Therefore, the polity government should be composed of the following aspects to ensure representation of every citizen in a given state.
Law of law by the constitution, Common interest, participation of the citizens in the ruling, constitution and the rules, mean of moral standard prevent extremes, public and power, education for all the citizens to ensure assurance of the state prosperity and withholding of the constitution. Therefore, in a polity form of ideal democracy that governs for the interests of the people. It applies the constitutional law to promote and expand the rights and freedom of people in the country. The rule of law reduces the monopoly of the statutory powers; it allows the elimination of illegitimate powers and reduces the instances of power abuse in society. Also, it enhances the empowerment of the citizens by providing education regarding the laws of the land. Polity promotes political transparency and accountability in a given state as it enhances political morality and ethics as the laws of the land controls the use of power with the given state. Further, the constitution of the country allows the auditing of the independence of the various branches of the government. It ensures maintenance of the efficiency of different sectors of the system.
Therefore, polity government adheres to the general principles of the quality of laws, the virtue of accountability and the focuses on the interests of the majority who Are the middle class in the society. Thus, the polity promotes the happiness of the subjects by linking the fairness in the rule and the common interests of the subject, which are absent other forms of government such Aristocracy, oligarchy, and the democratic governments. The balance of all the components of the power makes polity the most preferred form of the government by Aristotle.
Essay 2
2 Provide an interpretation of the allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic. How is the relationship between politics and philosophy depicted in the allegory?
Allegory of the Cave and Politics
Plato was a renowned philosopher who incorporated reasoning with a real-world situation. In the allegory of the Cave, Plato presents a situation that can be associated with the real-world political world and the application of governance principles to enhance different leadership systems. Practically, Plato's ideas in the cave's allegory can be applied in the political system to depict ignorance among the subjects, the truth, and the aspect of change within various government forms.
The aspect and the epistemological claims in Plato's allegory of the cave indicate the natural cognitive of subjects in the political world. Political educators apply several methods that have more demerits than advantages to the subjects. If one takes a leadership role in society, they can use the constitution to mislead the subjects as they believe they have seen the light that other citizens have not experienced. It resonates with Plato's ideas that indicate those in the cave have skewed truth about the reality in the real world.
Additionally, by referring to the images in the cave, Plato tries to critique the Athenian government and politics aimed at suppressing the subjects by feeding them with imaginary information for the benefit of the monarchy. The cave is metaphorical and represents the city of Athens or any other city where the citizen rarely leaves the city to get new knowledge from the outside world. Thus, in the allegory, Plato is making a political statement that indicates the adverse effects of corruption in the cultures. For instance, the democratic government aims to apply the law for the benefits and protection of their wealth. Thus, he claims that the complete restructuring of the government can only obtain an ideal government.
Those leaders who can acquire the leadership knowledge are privileged to return to the city to deliver it from devastating cultures by reforming the community. Therefore, this will change the government's leadership as the leaders will apply the right rules and policies to control the state in an orderly manner rather than using the strategies that lead to struggle and fights in the society. Hence, the cave represents the political allegory experienced in the states and the people who lack actual knowledge of leading the mass, the only one who predicts the next shadow is a leader who misleads the general public.
The allegory of the cave represents the mass in the city at the type of leadership. The people majority of the people are satisfied by the government that provides the maximum peace of mind. The people in the cave are satisfied with the darkness in the cave and do not long for more comfort; they engage in the daily activities of identifying the shadows as they appear. It indicates a society in a closed city involved in daily activities and does not care about anything appearing in the outer world. The people have rules and responsibilities in the cave, identifying the shadows as they pass. Also, the thoughts of the subjects are limited to thinking about their city and their daily activities. Thus, it represents a democratic government, where every member of society has an equal contribution to the government through participation.
The change from democracy or other forms of government to a Polity government is depicted in the allegory. The prisoner who escapes from the cave indicates those states that have changed from government dictatorship and gradually moved more free systems where the subject has freedom. The subjects also enjoy the sunlight and can only view the shadows with contempt. Those government regimes that have transformed can understand the demerits associated with it and the lack of ability to think about anything outside the regime. Hence, the free prisoner can think of new things and cannot fathom that the cave images were shadows. At first, the prisoner resists change and even could not see well due to the lights, but with time, he gets accustomed to the changes and embraces them. It is related to the reluctant aspect of leadership to changes in...