Hence there are two parts of good government; one
is the actual obedience of citizens to the laws, the other part is the
goodness of the laws which they obey; they may obey bad laws as well
as good. And there may be a further subdivision; they may obey
either the best laws which are attainable to them, or the best
absolutely.
The distribution of offices according to merit is a special
characteristic of aristocracy, for the principle of an aristocracy
is virtue, as wealth is of an oligarchy, and freedom of a democracy.
In all of them there of course exists the right of the majority, and
whatever seems good to the majority of those who share in the
government has authority. Now in most states the form called polity
exists, for the fusion goes no further than the attempt to unite the
freedom of the poor and the wealth of the rich, who commonly take
the place of the noble. But as there are three grounds on which men
claim an equal share in the government, freedom, wealth, and virtue
(for the fourth or good birth is the result of the two last, being
only ancient wealth and virtue), it is clear that the admixture of the
two elements, that is to say, of the rich and poor, is to be called
a polity or constitutional government; and the union of the three is
to be called aristocracy or the government of the best, and more
than any other form of government, except the true and ideal, has a
right to this name.
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