Plato's views on government can be found in the Republic as well as the Laws; however, it is only in the Republic that he considers a range of different regimes.
In book IV, he tells us that the ideal regime, the one of his kallipolis, will feature harmony between the three classes in the state: the ruling philosopher kings, the warrior auxiliaries, and the moneymakers (artisans, merchants). The philosopher kings (and, as we find out in book V, queens), who are lovers of wisdom, will rule, and they will be aided in this by the auxiliaries, who love honor above all else. Finally, the moneymakers will consent willingly to be ruled. This resembles most closely an aristocratic government; recall that in Greek, "aristos" simply meant "excellent." Thus, this is a government where the excellent rule.
In book VIII, Plato talks about degenerate governments. This is very interesting and often overlooked in discussions of Plato's political philosophy. After an aristocracy, the next best government, according to Plato, is a timocracy. This is not a good government, though—it's just better than what follows it. In a timocracy, love of wisdom becomes subordinate to love of honor (time in Greek), and it is the warrior auxiliaries who rule, not the philosophers. After a timocracy comes an oligarchy, where only a few (oligos) rich people rule. This happens because people confuse honor with wealth and begin to value wealth above all else. The oligarchy creates such income inequalities and weakens the state so much that it then catches the "virus" of democracy, which, for Plato, is the second worst government. He argues that this is a state with no structure, no laws, and complete anarchy. A democracy, he argues, leads way to the worst government of all: rule by a single tyrant or dictator.
Plato believed in justice as the ultimate foundation of life, particularly for government. It was through the pursuit of justice that he believed all of the many and different groups present in his Ancient Grecian society could find harmony. He believed that this social harmony was the most important value for his people, and therefore the ultimate goal of government.
Though hailing from Athens (the birthplace of democracy), Plato did not believe in democracy. He explains in Republic that he fears democracy to be too susceptible to anarchy or tyranny and that inept individuals being permitted to take public office would lead to unjust pursuits of the government.
He believed that the city-state should be ruled over by philosopher-kings; these kings would be wise and just, and their power would be absolute, but never tyrannical. Plato believed that these philosopher-kings would be above the base corruption and greed in the average person; he also did not want them to have wealth or luxury so as to limit the potential for corruption.
In his next work, Laws, Plato suggests replacing these philosopher-kings with a set of equally as virtuous and refined laws to rule the society. The goal of these laws is the same as with the philosopher-kings; harmony as the ultimate ideal between all factions of people—with justice leading the way there.
Despite not being a supporter of democracy, Plato believed absolutely in freedom for the people. He did not believe in slavery (which was prevalent at the time). The only limit he would put on that freedom was action that disturbed the harmony or encroached on the freedom of others (not unlike the role of law in our modern society).
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