se it is just and stable. "have them participate in deliberation and judgment [] but prevent them from holding the office alone" (III, 1281 b30). This combines oligarchy and democracy. To Aristotle, the best practicable state is the state in which some political functions are assigned to the many poor and other functions to the few rich, to produce a balance of the classes. How the balance is best achieved depends on circumstances. The balanced constitution may be called aristocracy or, if it is more democratic, "Polity". For Aristotle the human is "by nature" destined to live in a political association. Yet women, children, slaves, and alien residents are not citizens. Only various groups; the rich, the poor, those who come from noble families and the virtuous, can share in the power of association. Artisans, trades persons, and those who do not own property are not given equal share in power of the state. They are not "citizens" in respect to ruling. Polity is "a mixture of oligarchy and democracy" (IV, 1293 b34), is an attempt to combine the freedom of the poor majority and the wealth of the rich minority (IV, 1294 a17). Rule is a complex of activities that can be allocated to different social categories. Polity is the form of government in which different organs of government are controlled by different sections of the population, in such a way that both rich and poor have a share of power. Because power is shared by all categories, all take turns to rule....
