ARISTOTLE ON THE FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY
Published on Linkedin on October 23, 2017
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher (384 BC – 322 BC) who had, at the age of
seventeen, joined Plato’s Academy in Athens. He studied there for twenty years and
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later became tutor to Alexander who would become Alexander the Great, master of
the Persian Empire.
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the
Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was
born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of
twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign
through Asia and northeast Africa, and he created one of the largest empires of the
ancient world by the age of thirty, stretching from Greece to north-western India
In discussions about ancient Greek democracy, the most often referenced text is the
Politics of Aristotle.
He believed that someone who is virtuous in ruling a democracy, must be able to put
the common good above their own individual good.
He believed a democracy is a failure where the majority is poor and non-virtuous. This
means that whomever is in office, and all have equal access to office because of
democracy’s concept of equality, may not act in the best interests of the State and its
citizens.
Aristotle famously said: ‘When there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed
in number, troubles arise, and the State soon comes to an end’.
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