Of kingly rule and of aristocracy, we have already
spoken, for the inquiry into the perfect state is the same thing
with the discussion of the two forms thus named, since both imply a
principle of virtue provided with external means. We have already
determined in what aristocracy and kingly rule differ from one
another, and when the latter should be established. In what follows we
have to describe the so-called constitutional government, which
bears the common name of all constitutions, and the other forms,
tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.
It is obvious which of the three perversions is the worst, and which
is the next in badness. That which is the perversion of the first
and most divine is necessarily the worst. And just as a royal rule, if
not a mere name, must exist by virtue of some great personal
superiority in the king, so tyranny, which is the worst of
governments, is necessarily the farthest removed from a
well-constituted form; oligarchy is little better, for it is a long
way from aristocracy, and democracy is the most tolerable of the
three.
A writer who preceded me has already made these distinctions, but
his point of view is not the same as mine. For he lays down the
principle that when all the constitutions are good (the oligarchy
and the rest being virtuous), democracy is the worst, but the best
when all are bad.
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