Politics

Introduction

'Man is by nature a political animal.' From this starting point Aristotle examines the origins of household, village and city, and discusses slavery, property and citizenship. He compares monarchy, aristocracy and constitutional government with their corrupt forms, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy, and argues that a mixed constitution resting on the middle class is the most stable. He also criticizes the communism of Plato's Republic and analyses the causes of revolution. The Politics is the founding work of Western political science.