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According to ancient sources, Aristotle compiled constitutions of 158 Greek states, of which the Constitution of the Athenians is the only one to survive intact. [6] Modern scholars dispute how much of the authorship of these constitutions can be attributed to Aristotle personally; he at least would have been assisted by his students. [7]
Aristotle mentioned the collection of Constitutions in the Nicomachean Ethics (10.1181B17). It was supposed to be material gathered for his work on Politics.However, after the Athenian politeia was discovered, historians noted a later dating of the monographs (in the 320s BC) compared to the Politics (after 336 BC, most likely before 331 BC).
Finally, Aristotle criticizes Plato's suggestion from the Republic that there is a natural lifecycle of constitutions in which they begin as aristocracies and then progressively decay through the stages of timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and finally tyranny. Aristotle says that this is oversimplified, does not make theoretical sense, and fails ...
Aristotle largely embraced Plato's ideas and in his Politics three types (excluding timocracy) are discussed in detail. Aristotle considers constitutional government (a combination of oligarchy and democracy under law) the ideal form of government, but he observes that none of the three are healthy and that states will cycle between the three ...
In addition to such documentation, Aristotle pursued a research project of collecting 158 constitutions of various city-states in order to examine them for their strong and weak points. This evidence-based, descriptive approach to the study of politics was a hallmark of Aristotle's method, and a contrast with the more idealistic from-first ...
A specific form of government. Aristotle classified constitutions on two grounds: how many citizens had a voice in making the laws; and whether they did so considering the good of all citizens, or only their own. Along with monarchy and aristocracy, politeia is one of the three virtuous forms of government.
It may also refer to the following historical constitutional and legal codes under which Athens was governed at various periods: Draconian constitution, the code of laws in Athens written by Draco in the last quarter of the seventh century BC; Solonian constitution, the constitution implemented in Athens by Solon in the early sixth century BC
Diagram illustrating the classification of constitutions by Aristotle. Aristotle (c. 350 BC) was the first to make a formal distinction between ordinary law and constitutional law, establishing ideas of constitution and constitutionalism, and attempting to classify different forms of constitutional government. The most basic definition he used ...