Politeia

Politeia (πολιτεία) is an Ancient Greek word with no simple English translation. Derived from the word polis it is an important term in Ancient Greek political thought, especially that of Plato and Aristotle. Politeia is the original title of the book now universally known as The Republic. Roughly politeia means the organization of a polis. In Aristotle's Politics the term is at one point defined as "a certain ordering of the inhabitants of the city-state."

One translation is constitution, but the politeia is not a written document and may not even be a formal arrangement. It can also be translated as government, but this can also be misleading. More accurate, but lengthy, is system of government. By far the most common modern translation is regime, though with none of the pejorative connotations the word sometimes has in modern English.

A complication is that Aristotle clearly also has a second more specific meaning of the term. This meaning refers to a specific form of government. Along with monarchy and aristocracy politeia is one of the three virtuous forms of government. While monarchy is the rule by the one, and aristocracy by the few, politeia is rule by the many. It is not pure democracy, however, as the power of the many is circumscribed by the rule of law.

Why Aristotle uses the same term to refer two distinct ideas has confused readers for millennia. For instance later Aristotle refers to the ideal politeia as one using a mixed government. But it is uncertain whether he is referring to governments in general or to the specific form mentioned earlier.

Some translators thus use a different term for this second meaning of politeia. Most common is the vague term polity. More specific is translating it as constitutional democracy. Some also use the term republic. Other translators feel it is incorrect to translate the same word in two different ways, arguing that the ambiguity must have been deliberate and that it is impossible to always know which way the word should be rendered.

Cicero translated politeia as res publica (see also: De re publica) and it is from this that the current name of Plato's work comes. Note that the meanings the ancient Romans attached to res publica were also multiple and only partially overlapping with the Greek politeia, and further that none of the multiple meanings of politeia or res publica are much of an equivalent to republic as it is understood in modern political science.

External links

• Clifford Angell Bates - The Problem with Politeia as Polity in Aristotle's Politcs
• Democracy in the Politics of Aristotle - Glossary
• Wikinfo:Classical definition of repubic