§4.1292aἕτερον εἶδος δημοκρατίας τὸ μετέχειν ἅπαντας τοὺς πολίτας ὅσοι ἀνυπεύθυνοι, ἄρχειν δὲ τὸν νόμον·
Another form of democracy is for all those citizens to share whose status is unchallenged, but for the law to rule.
ἕτερον δὲ εἶδος δημοκρατίας τὸ παντὶ μετεῖναι τῶν ἀρχῶν, ἐὰν μόνον ᾖ πολίτης, ἄρχειν δὲ τὸν νόμον·
Another form of democracy is for everyone to have a share in the offices, if only he is a citizen, but for the law to rule.
ἕτερον δὲ εἶδος δημοκρατίας τἆλλα μὲν εἶναι ταὐτά, κύριον δʼ εἶναι τὸ πλῆθος καὶ μὴ τὸν νόμον.
Another form of democracy is for other things to be the same, but for the multitude to be sovereign and not the law.
τοῦτο δὲ γίνεται ὅταν τὰ ψηφίσματα κύρια ᾖ ἀλλὰ μὴ ὁ νόμος· συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο διὰ τοὺς δημαγωγούς.
This happens when decrees are sovereign but not the law; and this comes about because of the demagogues.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ ταῖς κατὰ νόμον δημοκρατουμέναις οὐ γίνεται δημαγωγός, ἀλλʼ οἱ βέλτιστοι τῶν πολιτῶν εἰσιν ἐν προεδρίᾳ· ὅπου δʼ οἱ νόμοι μή εἰσι κύριοι, ἐνταῦθα γίνονται δημαγωγοί.
For in those democracies that are according to law, a demagogue does not arise, but the best of the citizens are in the position of leadership; but where the laws are not sovereign, there demagogues arise.
μόναρχος γὰρ ὁ δῆμος γίνεται, σύνθετος εἷς ἐκ πολλῶν· οἱ γὰρ πολλοὶ κύριοί εἰσιν οὐχ ὡς ἕκαστος ἀλλὰ πάντες.
For the populace becomes a monarch, a single composite of many; for the many are sovereign not as individuals but all together.
Ὅμηρος δὲ ποίαν λέγει οὐκ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι πολυκοιρανίην, πότερον ταύτην ἢ ὅταν πλείους ὦσιν οἱ ἄρχοντες ὡς ἕκαστος, ἄδηλον.
It is unclear which kind of "rule by many" Homer says is not good—whether this one, or when those who rule as individuals are more numerous.
ὁ δʼ οὖν τοιοῦτος δῆμος, ἅτε μόναρχος ὤν, ζητεῖ μοναρχεῖν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἄρχεσθαι ὑπὸ νόμου, καὶ γίνεται δεσποτικός, ὥστε οἱ κόλακες ἔντιμοι, καὶ ἔστιν ὁ τοιοῦτος δῆμος ἀνάλογον τῶν μοναρχιῶν τῇ τυραννίδι.
At any rate, such a populace, being a monarch, seeks to rule monarchically because of not being ruled by law, and becomes despotic, so that flatterers are held in honor; and such a populace is analogous to tyranny among the monarchies.
διότι καὶ τὸ ἦθος τὸ αὐτό, καὶ ἄμφω δεσποτικὰ τῶν βελτιόνων, καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ τὰ ἐπιτάγματα, καὶ ὁ δημαγωγὸς καὶ ὁ κόλαξ οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ ἀνάλογον.
For this reason also their character is the same, and both are despotic over the better citizens, and decrees are like commands there, and the demagogue and the flatterer are the same and analogous.
καὶ μάλιστα δʼ ἑκάτεροι παρʼ ἑκατέροις ἰσχύουσιν, οἱ μὲν κόλακες παρὰ τοῖς τυράννοις, οἱ δὲ δημαγωγοὶ παρὰ τοῖς δήμοις τοῖς τοιούτοις.
And each has influence most of all in their respective domains: flatterers with tyrants, and demagogues with populaces of this kind.
αἴτιοι δέ εἰσι τοῦ εἶναι τὰ ψηφίσματα κύρια ἀλλὰ μὴ τοὺς νόμους οὗτοι, πάντα ἀνάγοντες εἰς τὸν δῆμον· συμβαίνει γὰρ αὐτοῖς γίνεσθαι μεγάλοις διὰ τὸ τὸν μὲν δῆμον πάντων εἶναι κύριον, τῆς δὲ τοῦ δήμου δόξης τούτους· πείθεται γὰρ τὸ πλῆθος τούτοις.
These men are responsible for decrees being sovereign rather than the laws, by referring everything to the populace; for it happens that they themselves become great because the populace is sovereign over all things, and they are sovereign over the opinion of the populace, since the multitude obeys them.
ἔτι δʼ οἱ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἐγκαλοῦντες τὸν δῆμόν φασι δεῖν κρίνειν, ὁ δὲ ἀσμένως δέχεται τὴν πρόκλησιν· ὥστε καταλύονται πᾶσαι αἱ ἀρχαί.
Further, those who bring accusations against the offices say that the populace ought to judge, and the populace gladly accepts the invitation, so that all the offices are undermined.
εὐλόγως δὲ ἂν δόξειεν ἐπιτιμᾶν ὁ φάσκων τὴν τοιαύτην εἶναι δημοκρατίαν οὐ πολιτείαν.
And he who asserts that such a democracy is not a constitution would seem to criticize reasonably.
ὅπου γὰρ μὴ νόμοι ἄρχουσιν, οὐκ ἔστι πολιτεία.
For where laws do not rule, there is no constitution.
δεῖ γὰρ τὸν μὲν νόμον ἄρχειν πάντων τῶν δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστα τὰς ἀρχάς, καὶ ταύτην πολιτείαν κρίνειν.
For the law ought to rule over all things, and the offices over particulars, and this is what we should judge to be a constitution.
ὥστʼ εἴπερ ἐστὶ δημοκρατία μία τῶν πολιτειῶν, φανερὸν ὡς ἡ τοιαύτη κατάστασις, ἐν ᾗ ψηφίσμασι πάντα διοικεῖται, οὐδὲ δημοκρατία κυρίως· οὐθὲν γὰρ ἐνδέχεται ψήφισμα εἶναι καθόλου.
So if democracy is indeed one of the constitutions, it is clear that such a setup, in which all things are administered by decrees, is not even a democracy in the strict sense; for no decree can be universal.
τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς δημοκρατίας εἴδη διωρίσθω τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον.
Let the forms of democracy, then, be defined in this way.
ὀλιγαρχίας δὲ εἴδη ἓν μὲν τὸ ἀπὸ τιμημάτων εἶναι τὰς ἀρχὰς τηλικούτων ὥστε τοὺς ἀπόρους μὴ μετέχειν, πλείους ὄντας, ἐξεῖναι δὲ τῷ κτωμένῳ μετέχειν τῆς πολιτείας,
Of oligarchy, one form is that offices are from property qualifications so high that the poor do not share, though they are the majority, but it is open to the one who acquires it to share in the constitution,