Polity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Polity (Greek: Πολιτεία or Πολίτευμα transliterated as Politeía or Políteuma) was originally a term used in Ancient Greece to refer to the many Greek city states that had an assembly of citizens as part of the political process. This did not include women, slaves, serfs, or metics. Thus, voting citizens usually included only a minority of the adult males.
Today it is usually a general term that refers to political organization of a group. It is often used to describe a loosely organized society such as a tribe or community, but can mean any political group including a government or empire, corporation or academy. It is also used in the phrase ecclesiastical polity as a synonym of church government.
[edit] Aristotle
Aristotle used the word to describe both in the original sense mentioned above, and to describe a specific form of government. This more specialised "polity" was a society ruled by the many, from all parts of the wealth continuum from rich to poor (mainly middle class), in the interests of the whole community. He believed it to be the ideal form of government somewhere between oligarchy (rule by the wealthy) and democracy (rule by the poor).
Aristotle also wrote that polity can be viewed as a fifth type of regime in addition to monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, and aristocracy. The fusion or mixture is made by including in the constitution some features generally associated with democracy, such as an assembly open to all citizens, with other features generally associated with oligarchy, such as election to high office (wealth is an advantage in electoral contests).[1]
Aristotle's "polity" is equal to much of modern "democracy" in practice.
