The conclusion is evident:
that governments which have a regard to the common interest are
constituted in accordance with strict principles of justice, and are
therefore true forms; but those which regard only the interest of
the rulers are all defective and perverted forms, for they are
despotic, whereas a state is a community of freemen.
VII
Having determined these points, we have next to consider how many
forms of government there are, and what they are; and in the first
place what are the true forms, for when they are determined the
perversions of them will at once be apparent. The words constitution
and government have the same meaning, and the government, which is the
supreme authority in states, must be in the hands of one, or of a few,
or of the many. The true forms of government, therefore, are those
in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the
common interest; but governments which rule with a view to the private
interest, whether of the one or of the few, or of the many, are
perversions. For the members of a state, if they are truly citizens,
ought to participate in its advantages. Of forms of government in
which one rules, we call that which regards the common interests,
kingship or royalty; that in which more than one, but not many,
rule, aristocracy; and it is so called, either because the rulers
are the best men, or because they have at heart the best interests
of the state and of the citizens.
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