The Politics (Classics) by Aristotle

Author:Aristotle [Aristotle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 1981-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Iv xv

(1299a3–1300b12)

THE EXECUTIVE ELEMENT IN THE CONSTITUTION

Aristotle now turns to the second of the three ‘elements’ he had enumerated at the beginning of IV xiv, the executive (or, as he puts it, the archai, the ‘offices’ or ‘officials’). He raises a large number of issues: (a) What kinds of official are there? (b) Who appoints them? (c) From whom are they appointed? (d) How are they appointed? (e) What is their tenure of office? (f) What are their function and powers? (g) How do the various officials operate in relation to each other? (h) Which officials, modes of appointment, powers and tenure etc. are appropriate for which constitutions?

Aristotle’s long and discursive treatment of these topics is rich in observation and analysis, and two features of the chapter are of special interest: (1) His attempt, in the second paragraph, to isolate just what we mean by ‘official’, as distinct from persons merely ‘in charge’ of something. As can be seen from Newman’s comments and references ad loc. (cf. also III i and Plato, Laws 767a, 768c) the controversy was a live one. Aristotle briefly tries various lines of approach and plumps provisionally for the rather widely drawn criterion that officials deliberate, decide and give orders – the last function being crucial. But after these inconclusive remarks he drops the search for definition as being of academic interest only. (2) His elaborate analysis, towards the end of the chapter, of the ways in which the various features of appointment may be combined. Admittedly, this matter is of practical interest, as particular constitutions find it expedient to combine them in particular ways; yet, as he virtually admits, he carries the mechanical analysis beyond the point where it could serve any useful purpose. One wishes he had devoted less energy to this enterprise and more to the philosophically interesting question, ‘What is an official as distinct from a mere functionary?’

1299a3 Next, we turn to classify the officials. Great variety is also to be found in this element in the constitution: questions arise about their number and the scope of their sovereign powers, about the length of tenure of office of each (it is made six months in some cases, in others less, in others a year, but in yet others longer periods). Should tenure be perpetual, or for a very long term? And if neither of these, then the question arises whether the same persons should hold office repeatedly, or for one period only, being ineligible for a second. Then there is the officials’ appointment – from whom are they to be drawn, by whom appointed, and in what manner? We ought to be able in all these matters to determine how many different ways are possible and then match them up, looking to see what sorts of officials are best for what sorts of constitution.

1299a14 Another question – and even this is not easy to answer – is, which kinds ought to be called ‘officials’? The association which we call the state1 needs

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