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Unit 4: Aristotle’s Theory of Revolution

and not by arbitrary decrees. Moreover, a government could not act contrary to the constitution. Notes
Third, constitutional government meant willing subjects ruled by consent, rather than by force.
Aristotle took a cue from Plato’s suggestion in the Laws that laws were necessary for a moral and
civilized life. Civility of law was possible if one perceived law as wisdom accumulated over the
ages and generations resulting from customs, both written and unwritten. For Aristotle, “experience
must represent a genuine growth in knowledge, though this growth registers itself in custom
rather than in science and is produced by common-sense rather than by learning. Public opinion
must be admitted to be not only an unavoidable force but also, up to a point, a justifiable standard
in politics”. Aristotle, unlike Plato, contended that the collective wisdom of the people was superior
to that of the wisest ruler or legislator, for “the reason oi the statesman in a good state cannot be
detached from the reason embodied in the law and custom of the community he rules”.
A constitution for Aristotle was not only a basic law determining the structure of its government
and allocation of powers between the different branches within a government, but it also reflected
a way of life. A constitution gave an identity to the polis, which meant that a change in the
constitution brought about a change in the polis:
For, since the polis is a community of citizens in a constitution, when the constitution
of the citizens changes and becomes different in kind the polis also does. We may
compare this with a chorus, which may at one time perform in a tragedy and at
another in a comedy and so be different in kind, yet all the while be composed of the
same person.
A political community, like all other communities, involved concerted actions and joint activity
working towards a common purpose. It could be distinguished from other associations by the fact
that it had a supreme authority, which was defined along with the common purpose by its
constitution. A constitution could be described as “an organization of offices in a state, by which
the method of their distribution is fixed, the sovereign authority is determined, and the nature of
the end to be pursued by the association and all its members is prescribed”.
From the foregoing paragraphs, it would be evident that a constitution had two aspects: the
ethical or the aims and goals to be pursued by a community; and the institutional or the structure
of political institutions and offices, and the distribution of power. In its ethical sense, a constitution,
for Aristotle, provided the identity of a state, for it examined the relationship between a good
citizen and a good man. As a result, different constitutions required different kinds of good
citizens, whereas a good man was always the same. Only under an ideal constitution was there an
identity between a good man and a good citizen. A good citizen was one who possessed the moral
wisdom to become a good ruler and a good subject. A state was a moral institution contributing to
the realization of the moral qualities in its citizens.
The institutional aspect involved the determination of the sovereign power and the allocation of
powers among the offices. The most important institution was a civic body, which was sovereign.
Every constitution had to contain three elements, namely deliberative, the official or magisterial,
and the judicial. The deliberative had four functions:
1. It was responsible for the most important decisions in foreign policy, matters of war and peace,
and the making and breaking of alliances.
2. Making and interpreting laws.
3. Administration of severe penalties, such as death, exile and confiscation of property.
4. Election of magistrates and their examination on completion of their term.
Aristotle assigned a comprehensive array of powers to the deliberative branch of government,
since it was supreme. It controlled the magistrates and the courts by controlling the laws that
regulated their functions, and by retaining the power to decide judicial and executive issues.

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