politics

Chapter 19 Volume (B) II (11)
However, the kings ("judges") of Carthage still had the positions of generals that could be sold by bribery. In this case, the essence of their political system was indeed "rich" (1273a31-b1), and at the same time tended to be "oligarchy" rule (1273b18 ), so Isocrates called it "oligarchy" (λιγαργα) (see Note 1272b38).Both the aristocracy and the republic can be called "mixed" regimes, and the actual differences between the two can be found in Volume 1294, Chapter 19, 25a1307-13 and Volume 16, Chapter 5, 10a[-]-[-]. , but it is sometimes biased toward the populace,[-] and sometimes toward the oligarchy.As far as the favor of the common people is concerned, the two kings and the elders can decide whether a case should be submitted to the public discussion of the citizens' assembly under the condition of unanimous consent, but even if the case is raised without their unanimous consent, the citizens' assembly will not agree. Discussion is also possible.Furthermore, for the cases raised by the unanimous consent of the kings and elders, the people in the assembly are not limited to accepting the original case and then passing or approving it, they can also make their own final decisions. [-] Any of the people present at the assembly may rise up against the bills presented by the rulers.But in the regimes of Sparta and Crete the assemblies of the citizens had no such rights.

On the other hand, the Carthageian regime also had an oligarchic bias.The five elders group "Five elders group" (πενταρχα) has failed the exam now, so it is impossible to know its duties in detail.He is in charge of many important state affairs, but there are a few things that are not in place: (1272) The five elders are selected by the method of filling the vacancies; Institution" is the "House of One Hundred and Four People" in 35b15(20) They are appointed for a longer term than other administrators, and if a vacancy arises, the rest of the regiment chooses to fill it People, in other administrative agencies, such powers also continue to exist before the appointment of successive personnel or after the expiration of their term of office.However, there are other measures that are contrary to this and are more in line with the spirit of meritocracy of the original legislators: they do not pay the executives, and they do not use lottery or lottery for re-election. In addition, there are other Some similar regulations.Any of their governing bodies can accept various lawsuits, 1275 unlike the legal system of Lacedaemon, where different institutions accept different types of lawsuits. The meaning of Shangxian or oligarchic tendencies is not very clear. (See volume 8 12b[-]-[-]). .

We must also note that there was an important tendency contained in the Carthaginian regime, and this tendency was to promote oligarchic tendencies.In Carthage and cities in general, there is a concept that the selection and appointment of administrators should not only be based on talent, but also take into account their wealth.The poor are neither good at politics nor have time to participate in state affairs. 25 If elections based on property are regarded as a sign of oligarchy (richness), and elections based on merit are regarded as a sign of meritocracy, then the current system of Carthage seems to be incompatible with both. It doesn't fit, and it can even be said that it is another political system besides the two.When selecting the ruling personnel, it uses both standards, and this standard is particularly obvious in the two kings and generals who are in the highest positions. 30 In fact, such an arrangement violated the original intention of emphasizing the spirit of meritocracy, and it can even be said that this was a mistake of the legislators.As a legislator, he should take care to secure the leisure of the superior men of virtue in the country, whether they are in office or not, and to secure them from those base occupations which are not proportionate to their own virtue.

Even if you get free time, you must rely on property. 35 It is amazing that the undercurrent of being rich has developed to the highest government positions. For example, the positions of two kings and generals can be obtained by bribery, which is quite improper. , In this way, in actual life, the rich will have the upper hand over the talented and virtuous, and since wealth can make people gain honor, then the whole country will also form an atmosphere of competing for greed. Habits will guide the atmosphere of the common people.

In this city-state, if virtue cannot be given the highest reverence, Volume 1293, Chapter 14, 1273b18 says that Carthage’s meritocratic regime takes into account the three elements of "wealth", "talent" and "common people" (that is, "majority"). In this section and 1273b5, because "talent" was not respected as it should be in Carthage, Carthage was repeatedly criticized for its tendency to favor wealth. , then, the aristocracy here naturally cannot last long. 1269b In addition, people who get officials by using money to bribe people will want to take advantage of the opportunity to get paid, so that selfish malfeasance will be a natural consequence.In times of need, even the most honest man is compelled to engage in profit-seeking trades, so who can guarantee that he will not be negligent in situations of vulgar nature and just happen to be poor? 34 Therefore, those who plan to seek a state must try to get those who are talented and politically capable to take up administrative tasks. In a state, even if they cannot be given lifelong support for those relatively good citizens, at least they will be supported. It should be ensured that during their political career, they can have sufficient free time and do not need to worry about their own food and clothing. See [-]a[-] above. .

Part-time jobs are popular in Carthage, which seems to be a shortcoming. It is good that each job is assigned to a person. Chapter 1261 1b10. , 15 Legislators should also add this principle to laws and regulations and try to make everyone abide by it.In any case, one person should not be both a flute player and a shoemaker, so, if the city is quite large, then the political functions should be divided among many people, which is also more in accordance with the principles of administration and the spirit of democracy.We have discussed earlier that the same political group and its related people should provide opportunities for everyone to participate in politics, [-] and a career with a dedicated job can be done better and faster.We can clearly see the advantages of a wide distribution of duties in the army and navy: in both institutions, from top to bottom, each member holds his place, does his best, and whoever is To be ordered but also to command, to rule but also to obey.

Although Carthage's political system is based on meritocracy, it has actually tended to be oligarchic in nature, but they often send some people to the colonial cities under their jurisdiction. Saying "colonial city" refers to the agricultural towns in the Libya area, and the people who are sent to get rich are to be the colonial officials there, and Iglotte's "History of Greece" x 398, are to be the settlers . , 545 gave those people the opportunity to get rich, and this policy made up for the defects of the oligarchic tendency to a certain extent, thus avoiding disasters in the country and maintaining the stability of the entire city-state.It's just that this kind of policy can only be implemented occasionally according to the timing. If you really want to relieve the country's internal worries, you must rely on better legislation rather than relying on such occasional opportunities.The current legal system in Carthage cannot eliminate all the sources of chaos. If the fortune is difficult and the border police are encountered, the civilians will still rebel.

This is roughly the case for the political systems of the three states known to the world—Lacedaemon, Crete, and Carthage.

The scope of discussion in this volume cited in the first chapter of Chapter Twelve: (1) The ideal political system of each family has been discussed in Chapters 8-9; (11) The actual political system of each state has been discussed in Chapters [-]-[-] discuss.The Athenian Solon law described in this chapter has already become a thing of the past in Aristotle's time. It may not be appropriate to include it in the scope of the second topic. It is the outline of another topic formulated by Aristotle.Regarding the old systems of other Legalists, there are only scales and claws, which are similar to notes.Newman speculates that this chapter is some remnants of his predecessors compiled by Aristotle's disciples, appended at the end of the volume, rather than Aristotle writing it himself.

Some of those who left records and books on political issues never actually participated in real politics, but lived their lives as clerks or scholars.Most of the valuable opinions of these sages have been described above. 30 As for the others, they were legislators, who created legislation either for their own states or for foreign cities, and were actually in charge of the government affairs of their city-states.These actual legislators can be divided into two categories: one is those who only draw up codes for a certain city-state, and the other is those who draw up both laws (statutes) and political systems, such as Lycagus And Solon, the two accomplished two great undertakings.Concerning the constitution of Lacedaemon,35 we have already spoken before.A school of thought believes that Solon is an excellent legislator. In 594 BC, Solon was promoted to be the ruler of Athens by virtue of his poetic talent and military exploits. He devoted himself to solving the old grievances of the poor, redistributed the land, and balanced the social forces at that time. At the same time, He also reformed the political system and enacted new laws. (For details, see Chapters 599 to [-] of "The Political System of Athens", as well as Plutarch's "Biography of Solon", and Plato's "Utopia" volume [-], [-]E.) Solon in Athens and Chirondas in Italy were both named Called "Excellent Legislator".

In Sections 16, 17, 26, 27, and 37 of Areopagiticus, Isocrates repeatedly praised Solon and the legal system he advocated, and the advantages he cited were slightly the same as this section.The "a certain school" mentioned here may refer to the Isocrates school. See note 1305a28 for "the ancestral system of the civilian regime". In their view, Solon eliminated the overly arbitrary oligarchy, liberated the poor from slavery, and established the "ancestral system of civilian government" in Athens.

In the political system created by Solon, various factors were perfectly integrated and each had its place: "Aleuba Gubli" (Senate) was around the 8th century BC, and Athens began to have "consuls" ( ρχων) to replace the power of the previous tribal kings (chiefs). This person issued orders in peacetime, but when they went out, the kings were still the leaders.The consuls are elected by the people, initially for life, and later changed to a ten-year term.In the middle of the 7th century BC, the number of consuls increased from 1 to 9: ([-]) chief ruler; ([-]) priestly ruler (that is, the original king); ([-]) military ruler (also the original king); ([-]) The other six are judicial officers who hear civil and criminal cases.Nine rulers are selected from among the nobles (also wealthy families) of various ethnic groups, and they are transferred to the "Senate" after their term of office expires.The Senate has the power to supervise and judge the current ruling. It is located on the God of War Mountain, so it is named Aluba Gubli (Aρεωπαγωβουλ), which means "the council on the God of War Mountain". (War God Mountain is west of the Acropolis).

Engels pointed out in "The Origin of the Family, Private Ownership, and the State" that the state developed from the clan system, and the most important example he cited was the city-state of Athens (The People's Publishing House edition of "Selected Works of Marx and Engels", two volumes II 261–262).The role of oligarchs is preserved, that is, the politics of praising the rich, 40 the election procedures of the ruling personnel emphasize the standard of virtue (practical politics), and the public trial court requires the will of the public to be represented, that is, democratic politics. 1274ɑIn fact, the election laws of the Senate and executive officers were the past systems of Athens, and Solon only quoted and imitated them in his own legislation. However, he stipulated that all citizens have the opportunity to be elected as jurors in public courts. This is indeed a manifestation of the introduction of the democratic spirit.And this is why some critics blame Solon.They believe that Solon handed over the power to judge all cases to those who passed the lottery system to make it possible for any "civilian" to be a juror to vote for adjudication, regardless of qualifications, just by chance.These cases included the interests of wealthy families of the aristocracy, the so-called "honors" and "plutocrats", and at the same time, military and political personnel ("talent") were charged, so that the assets and the virtues were separated. All elements must bow to the "number", that is, "civilians". (See Chapter IX of The Constitution of Athens.) The tribunal composed of re-elected citizen judges 5 virtually eliminates the other two factors.

After Solon, the authority of these courts increased day by day, and the rulers who served in successive generations flattered the common people just like flattering the tyrant, and the political system of Athens finally turned into the current "extreme democracy" form. For details, see Volume IV, Chapter VI, 1292a18-24 and Volume 1305, Chapter 20, 23a27–3. .Both Ephialte and Pericles reduced the powers of the Senate. In addition, Pericles also promulgated a system that gave jurors (citizen judges) attendance allowances. "Athens Political System" Chapter 4 Sections [-]-[-]: When Pericles began to prosper, it competed with Cimon, each winning the support of the common people.Ji Meng is rich, donates to public welfare, and spares no expense in social welfare and entertainment.All the citizens of the deme came to visit his home every day and got what they needed. Ji Meng's manor was vast and there were no barriers. Anyone who visited the manor could pick fruits and eat whatever they wanted.Pericles, on the other hand, lacked means, and in this respect was completely incomparable to Jimon, so he followed the advice of Damonides of Oia, and gave the public wealth to the masses, thus formulating A system for jurors to receive allowances has been established. .

(End of this chapter)