Plato's Five types of Government

(Originally written September 21, 2006 in Book 10)

Classics of Philosophy
Louis Pojman

The Republic - Plato

"Warped minds, warped societies"

There are five types of governments:
1. Plato's community
2. Oligarchy
3. Democracy
4. The Cretan/Spartan System
5. Noble dictatorship - the ultimate political disease

There are thus, five types of people; one that matches each of the five systems.

Plato's community is an aristocracy/monarchy which is moral and thus inhabited by moral people. Plato's community is best.

The system of the Cretans/Spartans is a devolution of Plato's system and is second best. This system is noted for its ambitious nature and Plato labels it a 'timocracy' or 'timarchy'.

Plato's system of aristocracy is noted for its stable nature. But, Plato notes that his system, like everything else, lacks permanence.

Timarchy is a government that is ruled by people ruled by their passions. A timocracy is a government obsessed with military success and has been corrupted by money.

An aristocracy will degenerate to a timocracy when they abandon their principles of unity and specialization.

Instability cannot occur in an aristocracy because everyone is of the same mind. When unity is broken, instability can occur and an aristocracy will devolve into a Timarchy.

When tension arises between auxiliaries and the rulers the unity is broken and aristocracy devolves into Timarchy.

The military will dominate the society. Their education will focus solely on military tactics and physical training. They will be taught to become totally devoted to the state ambition of conquest.

Ambition will drive men to one of two positions: state controlled drones or personally ambitious.

Those who become ambitious for themselves will lust for money and wealth will corrupt the entire system.

The Timocratic state is an intermediate between Plato's aristocracy and a worse system: an oligarchy.

Aristocracy is different from oligarchy in that while both are the rule of a few, oligarchy chooses its rulers on wealth, not merit.

An oligarchy is a government ruled by desire. Their values are skewed. Instead of goodness they seek money.

Crime is rampant in an oligarchy/

There are two diametrically opposed groups in an oligarchy: the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor. Both groups hate each other and the entire community lives in hatred and fear.

A Timocracy will devolve into an oligarchy. The ambitious nature of the timarchical man will become money lusting and cause him to become a mercenary.

Oligarchs lack courage because they don't want to chance losing their wealth and thus, their power.

The rich are mean-spirited and the poor will do anything to obtain riches.

An oligarchy will become a democracy by the same devolutionary process that an aristocracy becomes a timocracy and a timocracy becomes and oligarchy.

The brutal nature of an oligarchy will lead to a revolution. Out of the revolution a free-for-all democracy will arise.

A democracy has no unity whatsoever. It is a complete lack of discipline.

The insatiable greed of oligarchs will cause the revolution. Their unchecked greed will completely destroy all unity within the community.

Democracy begins when the poor overthrow the rich oligarchs/

Democrats are completely autonomous, they don't specialize in any single field.

Free speech and individualism reigns supreme in the democracies.

Democracy is a little bit of every political system.

Democracy abandons rigorous education and replaces it with a wide variety of choice.

A great deal of people will be honored by claiming to love the public.

Democracy loves to appear as an enjoyable and wonderful system but is completely inept when it tries to accomplish things.

An oligarch is ruled by desires and so too are democrats. Oligarchs are ruled by necessary desires; whereas, democrats are ruled by unnecessary desires.

The democrats are true rebels. They rebel to rebel. Whatever was in an oligarchy is not any longer in that democracy.

An internal civil war produces the same effect in oligarchs turned democrats. A democrat throws out all of the oligarch in himself, even the good parts.

Democracy revels in insubordination, disorder, extravagance and uninhibited desires/actions. They love glory and parade it at any excuse. They use these things to gloss over their corrupt nature.

They call insubordination "erudition". They call disorder "freedom". They call extravagance "magnificence". They call uninhibitedness "courage".

Democrats seek futile pleasures. They make no distinction between good and bad pleasures.

Democrats have no focus, no long-term vision. They are hijacked by every little whim.

Democracy can devolve into a dictatorship.

Democracy has individuals dominated by all forms of pleasures. Dictatorships have people dominated by only the worst and basest of pleasures.

Dictators are so criminal that they cannot be classified as being controlled by any o the three distinct sections of the mind.

The poor of the democratic society will remain unsatisfied and seek out a champion who will rise to become a powerful dictator, who will surround himself with those poor and enslave them.

The democracy's love of freedom is what will drive them to become dictators. Because anyone who blocks any bit of freedom, even if it's good for them, will be seen as a tyrant and become outcasts in society. Freedom, unchecked, will destroy them.

The people's champion will grow and grow in power until one of two thins happen:
1) They will be assassinated
2) They will become a dictator.

A dictator must convince the people they are in need of a strong leader so they will provoke war.

The people of a dictatorship live as slaves to fear and the dictator. It its a broken society.