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Aristotle was very interested in politics.

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That's why he studied how different societies are governed.

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In those days, in the 4th century BC, Greece was divided in different states,

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in different small cities that were independent.

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And Aristotle studied how these cities were ruled.

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He discovered that different cities had different ways of government.

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In some of them there was one person having the power, in others it was a small group of people

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who had the power, and in others, such as Athens, there was a democracy, meaning that all the people

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had the power. When are these forms of government acceptable and fair? Aristotle thought that they

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could all be fair if they tried to obtain the common good of everybody. If a certain way of

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government tries to be just because it is interested in the common good, in the welfare

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of all the population, then it is acceptable and legitimate. But for Aristotle, if the way of

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government is unjust because it is trying to obtain a particular benefit for a group, then it is not

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acceptable. So Aristotle classified all the different types of government he knew in two

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big groups, fair and acceptable, which are those that try to obtain the common good,

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unfair and unacceptable if they try to pursue a particular interest and not the common good for

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everybody. Now, different societies can have different ways of government and they can be

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okay because everything depends on the circumstances and peculiarities of that society.

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Everything is okay as long as they try to achieve the common good.

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For example, if in a city one person has the power, this is what Aristotle called a monarchy,

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and it is an acceptable way of government if this king tries to obtain the common good for everybody

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and is interested in the welfare of all society.

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If a small group of people have the power, Aristotle called this an aristocracy,

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And it can be fair if they are interested in the common good.

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And democracy is a fair and just way of government where all the people have the power and they try to achieve the common benefit for everybody.

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But these systems can get corrupted, can be unjust, if they are not trying to pursue the final common good of everybody.

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For example, if a king has the power but he is interested in his particular interest

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and not the common interest, then we no longer have a monarchy.

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We have a tyranny because the king has become a tyrant.

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That is what we call today a dictator.

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But in those days, Aristotle called that a tyranny.

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When a small group of people have the power and they are interested in their particular benefit,

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That is what Aristotle called an oligarchy, which is an unfair way of government.

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And what about a democracy?

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Can a democracy become a corrupt and unjust system of government?

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Yes, of course it can.

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Think about a place where the people have the power, but they are not interested in

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the benefit of everybody.

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They are only interested in their particular selfish interest.

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This is what we call a demagogy, which is the corruption of a democracy.

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An example, think about a country where the majority of the people vote

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and their decision is taken by majority,

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but what they decide is not benefiting everybody.

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For example, what would happen if we vote and we decide by majority

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democracy, that minorities in our society should be discriminated and treated unfairly.

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This decision is taken democratically, by a vote, but it is not fair because it is not

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thinking about the benefit and welfare of everybody.

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This is what Aristotle considered a corruption of democracy, and that is what we today call

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a demagogy.