ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPT OF GOOD GOVERNMENT

ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPT OF GOOD GOVERNMENT

ABSTRACT

Albert Einstein, in a letter to a Rumanian friend Maurice Solvine from Princeton U.S.A. on April 10, 1938, says: “A fashion rule each age, without most people being able to see the tyrants that rule them” Although man as Aristotle opines is a political animal who desires and longs to live in a community with his species, he is the best of all the animals that rule and guided by laws.  In the same vein, man could be the worst of all animals when there is anarchy. It is in the light of this that Aristotle opts for a government that would be beneficial to the people. The researcher would make an attempt to explain what a good government is, according to Aristotle, and also analyze them in the light of the Nigerian situation.

The question: Who should rule? For what purpose? And what is the best form of government are fundamental questions in Aristotle’s concept of good government that this thesis intends to answer.