Aristotle is considered one of the fathers of democracy, alongside Plato. Despite how much the world has changed since Aristotle’s time, many of his ideas regarding democracy still resonate today. But what exactly did Aristotle think about democracy and what can we learn from him?
Who Was He?
Aristotle was more than just a Greek philosopher; alongside his contributions to political philosophy, he contributed heavily to the natural sciences.
Most notably, Aristotle’s contributions to ethics, political theory, and metaphysics are still studied to this day – despite their age.
He was a student of Plato and the two heavily influenced each other, with criticism and appreciation alike for the other’s perspective. Aristotle also followed in Plato’s footsteps and taught numerous individuals, including a young Alexander the Great.
Lastly, not all of Aristotle’s works have survived to the modern age. As it stands, we only have about one-fifth of his total work.
Thoughts on Democracy.
You may wonder whether Aristotle agreed with Plato’s takes on democracy (which you can read more about, here and here). The short answer is: no. However, though he didn’t fully agree with Plato on all of his perspectives, there are some ideas that they had similar standpoints on.
Both had some issues with unrestrained democracy; Plato believed that democracy could be easily warped by powerful individuals taking advantage of the uneducated masses. This led to Aristotle’s belief that a constitution (under middle-class control) was necessary to prevent democracy from being taken advantage of.
This also leads to Aristotle’s argument that, while the principle of “one person, one vote” may appear to be good, it can be unequal. Aristotle notes that while it is true that a single poor person may ostensibly have the same say as a single rich person, the poor make up a greater portion of the population, and their voices, therefore, carry more weight (pg.143). (One may also take issue with this argument in the modern day and argue that the rich, with more money, can take advantage of this supposed equality.)
Furthermore, Aristotle also believed that farmers would be the best group to run democracies, as they did not spend all of their time around the city center. He believed that people who live and work in the city center would spend far too much time on politics, and thus could contribute to problematic versions of democracy (pg.143-5).
Aristotle’s Politics are also important to understand because he’s concerned with how democracies (alongside oligarchies and other forms of governments) are constructed.
In Politics, Arisotle provides answers for a) the ways in which we can construct the “best” versions of each and b) what principles are central to these forms of governance (Book VI of Politics).
Lastly, worth noting is that Aristotle’s version of democracy was not for everyone. He did not believe that women should participate in politics and, instead should be relegated to the domestic sphere (pg. 19).
Why Do We Care?
But why does it matter what a long-dead Greek guy said about democracy? After all, as already noted, things have certainly changed since Aristotle’s time. The reason it is still important to consider his (and Plato’s) work is because much of what we read in democratic theory classes is directly or indirectly addressing Aristotle’s arguments. These two philosophers’ thoughts are where most, if not all, of our conversations surrounding democracy originate.