Aristotle's Politics: The Art of Living Together › The Best Practicable Regime

Aristotle is often read as preferring aristocracy or kingship in theory. A truly virtuous monarch or ruling class would govern better than ordinary citizens. But he is realistic about human nature. Truly virtuous rulers are rare, and concentrating power creates temptations that corrupt even good people. For most actual communities, Aristotle recommends a mixed constitution combining elements of oligarchy and democracy: _politeia_. The wealthy participate (preventing their alienation and potential revolt), but so do ordinary citizens (preventing oligarchic exploitation). Property qualifications for office are moderate: high enough to ensure some stake in the community, low enough to include a broad middle class. The middle class is crucial. Aristotle argues that those in the middle are most likely to follow reason, least likely to commit crimes or grasp for power, and most capable of ruling and being ruled in turn. Extreme inequality destabilizes politics: the very rich become arrogant and unwilling to obey; the very poor become envious and prone to faction. A large middle class provides ballast. > The best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, and those states are likely to be well-administered in which the middle class is large. This is no endorsement of mediocrity. It is a recognition that political stability requires a broad base of citizens with enough to lose that they value order, and enough stake in the system that they support it. Extreme concentration of wealth and power undermines this foundation.