Quote
Polybius, in his discussion of the Roman constitution, builds into Aristotle’s theory his own theory of constitutional change known as Anacyclosis. With Aristotle, Polybius agrees that regimes decay and fall apart either from without by invasion or external disaster or, more likely, they crumble from within through corruption and civil strife. For Polybius, the cycle between regimes from kingship to aristocracy to monarchy follows shifts in the spread of property ownership. Regimes age and die and their life cycle parallels economic and class cycles. The best security against the cycle of regime change, a cycle that begins and ends in chaotic non-polity, is a mixed constitution. Only a mixed constitution harnesses the one, the few, and the many in an equal and harmonious yoke. This is most likely achieved through democracy, but it should be kept in mind that no actual regime is all one thing or all another, but rather they tend toward unique conglomerations.Share
Sign In to comment on this quote
