Aristotle and the Canadian Political System

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Aristotle Politics



Justin Trudeau's election as Canadian Prime Minister represented a generational change in the country's politics. While there was a general belief that he was not ready to be Prime Minister, Trudeau used political skill and craftsmanship during the long election campaigns to defeat experience politicians. His election not only represents a generational change in Canadian politics but also has significant impacts on governance. In a recent phone call, he has indicated that he wants to re-establish the country with a new political system. This is influenced by the talks he has had regarding different kinds of political systems i.e. oligarchy, democracy, and the middle class. For Prime Minister Trudeau to choose the best system to rebuild the Canadian political system, an understanding of each of these systems is important.



One of the people who made significant contributions regarding oligarchy, democracy, and the middle constitution is Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who is considered as one of the most influential ancient intellectuals in philosophy and political theory. Aristotle's work in political theory was fueled by his travels and encounters of different political systems. This contributed to his focus on comparative politics, through which he advocated and critiqued the different political systems at that time.



According to Aristotle, the defining feature of oligarchy is that sovereign power is in the hands of few individuals. In this kind of political system, the Constitution vests sovereign authority in the hands of a few who essentially have control over the country. In most cases, the few individuals with sovereign power and control over the country are usually richer and more powerful than others. These individuals are either elected or born into their powerful positions as it was common in ancient Greek and monarchies of the ancient world. In essence, it's a political system or form of governance where the rich rule the poor. The strengths of oligarchy political system are that decisions are made by more than one individual and usually comprises of highly educated individuals. On the contrary, the weakness of this political system is that poor people do not have a say in governance since sovereign authority is in the hands of a few rich and powerful individuals.


In contrast, democracy is a system of governance where the greater numbers of people or citizens are sovereign.

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Unlike an oligarchy political system, a democracy political system vests sovereign power or authority in the hands of the majority on the premise that majority rules. Aristotle postulates that democracy is a form of governance in which the free are rulers as compared to oligarchy where it's only the rich who are rulers. Therefore, the defining feature of democracy is freedom since citizens have a share in sovereign power or authority. In this regard, there are two main aspects of freedom upon which the democratic political system is based. The first aspect of freedom is being ruled and ruling at the same time given that every citizen is equal based on number not merit whereas the second aspect is the liberty to live as you wish. The strengths of democracy include tolerance of the view of everyone, direct debate on issues, and shared sovereign authority. The weaknesses are vulnerability to mob rule and increased probability of corruption.



The Middle Constitution is a form of governance that incorporates both oligarchy and democracy and also involves the middle citizens. Aristotle developed this concept on the basis that the extremes of oligarchy and democracy are discernible and disadvantageous. According to him, a combination of two things is usually the middle point between two extremes and therefore a constitution is the mid-point between two extremes. The defining feature of the Middle Constitution is the share of sovereign authority or political power different from the oligarchy and democracy. In this case, the Middle Constitution is where sovereign authority is given to a middle number of people or citizens more than it is in an oligarchy political system and less than it is in a democracy. The strengths of the Middle Constitution include creation of a balance in the share of sovereign power and stability. However, its weaknesses are vague definition of the concept and difficulties in determining whether some people are in the middle or extreme class.



Based on this analysis, I would recommend that Prime Minister Trudeau rebuild Canada's political system using the Middle Constitution since it….....

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