A Summary of Democracy and Aristocracy by Aristotle
It is worth noticing that both Plato and Aristotle agree on the deficiency and inefficiency of democracy in which the intelligence gives way to the number. “Bad is the lordship of many; let one be your ruler and master.” (Homer) Theoretically, the idea form of government would be the centralization of all political power in the one best man. (Plato) But in practice, monarchy is the worst form of government, for great strength and great virtue are not near allied. The king and the Queen, though traditionally endowed with great power, are not equipped with the knowledge of political philosophy.
Hence the best practicable policy is aristocracy, the rule of the informed and capable few. Government is too complex a thing to have its issues decided by number, when lesser issues are reserved for knowledge and ability. However, the difficulty with hereditary aristocracy is that it has no permanent economic base, the eternal recurrence of the nouveaux riches puts political office sooner or later at the disposal of the highest bidder. As the accumulation of the wealth of the mercantile bourgeoisie over-reaches that of the aristocrats, aristocracy gives way to plutocratic aristocracy - wealthy traders and bankers rule the state. “ ...and where ability has not the first place there is no real aristocracy.”
“Democracy is usually the result of a revolution against plutocracy”, by which Will Durant implies that the establishment of the policy of democracy is not because of the unbearable flaws of aristocracy itself, but the dark spots in the plutocracy. Democracy surely has its advantages, the people being collectively as good, being able to judge and assess the policies imposed on them, and being less likely to be corrupted. Yet democracy is on the whole inferior to aristocracy. For it is based on a false assumption of equality; it “arises from the notion that those who are equal in one respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free they claim to be absolutely equal.” The upshot is that ability is sacrificed to number, while numbers are manipulated by trickery. What we need is a combination of aristocracy and democracy.
