Aristotle' s Three Cities and the Problem of Faction

Authors

John Patrick Coby, Smith CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1988

Publication Title

Journal of Politics

Abstract

Aristotle describes the polis as a self-sufficient compound. Its regime, he says, is responsible for shaping the whole character of the city' s people. But rarely is the city unified in its parts, and the formative power of the regime is not always this extensive. There are in fact three kinds of cities depicted in the Politics. They differ by the degree of partnership tying city members together. Accordingly, the problem of faction and its cure differs for each: for some cities, where the regime is unitary, the cure is consent; for others, with mixed regimes, it is participation; but for the ideal city it is homogeneity.

Volume

50

Issue

4

First Page

896

Last Page

919

Comments

Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.

Recommended Citation

Coby, John Patrick, "Aristotle' s Three Cities and the Problem of Faction" (1988). Government: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/gov_facpubs/35