Politics(Barnes&NobleLibraryofEssentialReading)

Aristotle'sPoliticsisoneoftheearliest,andatthesametimeoneofthemostthoroughandbalanced,accountsofpolitics.Itprovidesextendedanalysesoftheoriginandfunctionofthestate;theproperdistributionofpoliticalpoweramongthebranchesofgovernment;aclassificationofthedifferenttypesofregime;thereasonswhythedifferentregimesfailandhowtopreventsuchfailure;and,ingeneral,theprincipaldetailsofpracticalpolitics.Inthisrespect,itisaprimerongovernmentasvaluabletodayasitwaswhenfirstwritten.ThegreatestcontributionofthePolitics,however,liesinitsestablishmentofthefundamentalprinciplesunderlyingthesedetails-thepoliticalsignificanceofhumannatureandrationality;therelationofthehumangoodtothepoliticalgood;thecriticaldifferencebetweenpoliticsandeconomics;andthetruejustificationforpoliticalauthorityandpower.Attheveryleast,Aristotle'sPoliticsisareminderthatgovernment,bothintheoryandpractice,needstohaveitsfoundationandjustificationinbroaderunderstandingsofman,ofnature,andofthepurposeofpoliticallife.