POLS 2900 Lecture Notes - Distributive Justice, Oligarchy, Aristocracy

• School: York University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2900
• Professor: Adam Hilton

Document Summary

Aristotle states that the politician and lawgiver is wholly occupied with the city-state, and the constitution is a certain way of organizing those who inhabit the city-state. He begins with a definition of the citizen, since the city-state is by nature a collective entity, a multitude of citizens. After further analysis he defines the citizen as a person who has the right to participate in deliberative or judicial office. In athens, for example, citizens had the right to attend the assembly, the council, and other bodies, or to sit on juries. Full citizenship tended to be restricted in the greek city-states (with women, slaves, foreigners, and some others excluded); the citizens were more deeply enfranchised, because they were more directly involved in governing. This is reflected in aristotle"s definition of the citizen (without qualification). Further, he defines the city-state (in the unqualified sense) as a multitude of such citizens which is adequate for a self-sufficient life.