Book 4: Chapter 1, Parts of the State & their Forms of Government Summary and Analysis

In these sections, Aristotle conducts a more detailed survey of the main types of government in the region. He clarifies that there is a strong tradition of using legal structures known as constitutions as starting points for the sets of laws that govern a particular state. He has shown that these have in fact been crafted by men; the implication is that they have been generated by committees.

Perhaps most importantly, Aristotle has explained that at least in the Hellenic Greek city-states, it has been necessary to know and to use more than one form of government.

In the previous chapters, the philosopher has provided elucidation of monarchy, aristocracy and polity. He has also described "deviations" from these, which give rise to governments...