 State or polis is composed of villages then composed with households then with citizens.

The villages and households have association of naturally ruling and naturally ruled.
o Natural relationships: (Ruler-ruled) Master-slave, Husband-wife, parent-child
 Polis is self-sufficient – (a man can’t be self-sufficient so he needs to be part of the polis)
 Beast – not part of the polis and cannot share the benefit of the polis
 God – self-sufficient man
 Aristotle defines citizens as men who engage in admin and affairs of the polis.
o Non-citizens are slaves, women, children, elderly, foreigners
 The Excellence of Good citizen – knows how to rule and how to obey
o Middle class
o Rich – only knows how to rule
o Poor – only knows how to obey
 The Excellence of Good man – in order of ruling
 Constitution definition
o Pol sci: set or rules, written and unwritten, that seek to establish duties, powers and
functions of the various institution of the government
o Aristotle: means to organize a polis. The constitution tell us about the organization
of the civic body and the offices in the polis
 Types of Constitution
o Monarchy – rule of one who possess the virtue of reason or intellect
o Aristocracy – rule of the few who possess virtue of reason or intellect
o Polity – rule of the many who possess virtue of reason or intellect
o Tyranny – rule exercised for benefit of the ruler
o Oligarchy – rule exercised for the benefit of the wealthy
o Democracy – rule exercised by the many for the benefit of the poor
 Right constitution – they are geared to promote common good and the welfare of the entire
community
 Perverted constitution- protect only the interest of the rulers, abuse power
 Ideal constitution – Monarchy or Aristocracy because of the superior virtue and political
capacity of the monarch/rulers
o Very difficult to find a man like this
 Practical constitution – polity is administered by citiend at large for common interest and
limited suffrage. Seeks to achieve balance between wealth and numbers. Also based on the
principle of stability and practicability
o Middle class rules because they are used to rule and obey
 They are most inclined to make use of and are most open to reason
 Democracy definition
o Modern: freedom to participate in elections, governance, practice of press freedom,
protection of human rights
o Aristotle: ruled by poor for the poor
 Aristotle – pursues the highest good for human beings
o Humans- capable of reason, acquiring intellectual virtues
o Virtue is the middle ground of deficiency and excess
  Example: courage is the middle of being coward and being overly rash
o Eudaimonia or highest good is the acquisition of intellectual virtues and virtue of
character
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