Posted: January 31st, 2022

Plato’s five regimes

Plato’s five regimes
Dialectical forms of government

While Plato spends much of the Republic having Socrates narrate a conversation about the city he founded with Glaucon and Adeimantus “in speech,” the discussion eventually turns to four regimes that exist in reality and tend to degrade successively into each other: timocracy, oligarchy (also known as plutocracy), democracy, and tyranny. While Plato spends much of the Republic having Socrates narrate a conversation (also called despotism).

Timocracy

A timocracy, according to Socrates, is a government comprised of people who are devoted to authority and honor. As Socrates explains it, the timocracy originates from the aristocracy as a result of a civil war erupting between the governing elite and the general populace. A large number of births will occur to persons who lack aristocratic and guardian attributes over time, gradually moving the populace away from knowledge, music, poetry, and “guardian education,” and toward money-making and the acquisition of material belongings. If a compromise cannot be achieved, this civil war between those who value wisdom and those who favor material accumulation will continue until a solution is found. The timocracy places a high emphasis on battle because it satisfies its desire for victory and honor. The timocratic man enjoys physical training and hunting, and he places a high value on his combat ability.

Oligarchy

It is because to temptations that there is a misalignment between economic position and honor, which is what leads to the formation of oligarchy. The philosopher Socrates argues in Book VIII that wealth will not assist a pilot in navigating his ship since his concerns will be aimed primarily toward accumulating his fortune by whatever means possible, and not toward searching for knowledge or dignity. The injustice of economic imbalance separates the rich from the poor, producing an environment conducive to the emergence of criminals and beggars on the streets. The affluent are continually conspiring against the poor, while the poor are constantly plotting against the rich. The oligarchic constitution is founded on the appraisal of property and the qualification of wealth. Apart from that, they are also incapable of fighting wars since they do not seek to arm the majority out of concern that they will rise up against them (fearing the majority even more than their opponents), nor do they appear to pay mercenaries out of a lack of willingness to spend money.

Democracy

As this socioeconomic disparity widens, tensions between social classes become more intense. As a result of the conflicts that arise as a result of these tensions, the poor majority overthrows the wealthy minority, and democracy usurps the oligarchy that existed before it. Ultimately, the poor depose the oligarchs and grant liberties and freedoms to citizens, producing the world’s most diverse population living under the umbrella of a “supermarket” of constitutional arrangements. A demagogue who is visually appealing is quickly elevated to the position of protecting the interests of the lower classes. Nevertheless, with too much freedom, no requirements for anyone to rule, and no interest in assessing the backgrounds of their rulers (apart from honoring those who have done well for them because they wish them well), the people are easily persuaded by such a demagogue’s appeal to try to satisfy people’s common, base, and unnecessary desires.

Tyranny

The overwhelming freedoms offered to members of a democracy eventually result in tyranny, which is the most regressive form of government. The population are divided into three socioeconomic strata as a result of these freedoms: the dominant class, the elites, and the commoners. Because of the tensions between the ruling class and the elites, the commoners are seeking protection for their democratic liberties from the authorities. They place all of their trust in their democratic demagogue, who, in turn, becomes corrupted by the power and rises to the level of a dictator, surrounded by a tiny group of loyal supporters for safety and complete control over his subjects’ lives.

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