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Single Idea 19829

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 2. Leaders / d. Elites ]

Full Idea

There are three sorts of aristocracy: natural, elective, and hereditary. The first is suited only to simple people; the third is the worst of any government. The second is the best; it is aristocracy properly so-called.

Gist of Idea

Natural aristocracy is primitive, and hereditary is dreadful, but elective aristocracy is best

Source

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract (tr Cress) [1762], III.05)

Book Ref

Rousseau,Jean-Jacques: 'The Basic Political Writings', ed/tr. Cress,Donald A. [Hackett 1987], p.181

A Reaction

This seems like the modern idea of 'meritocracy'. The Chinese civil service exams, introduced into Europe in the nineteenth century.

The 23 ideas with the same theme [rule of a small group, by talent, birth or wealth]:

7361 Men of the highest calibre avoid political life completely [Kongzi (Confucius)]
2132 Only rule by philosophers of integrity can keep a community healthy [Plato]
2149 Reluctant rulers make a better and more unified administration [Plato]
22542 People who buy public office will probably expect to profit from it [Aristotle]
2819 The only virtue special to a ruler is practical wisdom [Aristotle]
22552 The rich can claim to rule, because of land ownership, and being more trustworthy [Aristotle]
22583 The guardians should not be harsh to strangers, as no one should behave like that [Aristotle]
19970 If the nobility is numerous, the senate is the artistocracy, and the nobles are a democracy [Montesquieu]
19971 Aristocracy is democratic if they resemble the people, but not if they resemble the monarch [Montesquieu]
19984 Great inequality between aristocrats and the rest is bad - and also among aristocrats themselves [Montesquieu]
21092 Nobility either share in the power of the whole, or they compose the power of the whole [Hume]
19829 Natural aristocracy is primitive, and hereditary is dreadful, but elective aristocracy is best [Rousseau]
7249 Natural aristocracy is primitive, hereditary is bad, and elective aristocracy is the best [Rousseau]
19830 Large states need a nobility to fill the gap between a single prince and the people [Rousseau]
21086 Hereditary nobility has not been earned, and probably won't be earned [Kant]
22669 Aristocracy is constituted by inherited landed property [Tocqueville]
20139 Only aristocratic societies can elevate the human species [Nietzsche]
20373 A healthy aristocracy has no qualms about using multitudes of men as instruments [Nietzsche]
23200 The controlling morality of aristocracy is the desire to resemble their ancestors [Nietzsche]
20089 Technocrats may be efficient, but they lose legitimacy as soon as they do unpopular things [Reybrouck]
20088 Technocrats are expert managers, who replace politicians, and can be long-term and unpopular [Reybrouck]
20597 If winning elections depends on wealth, we have plutocracy instead of democracy [Tuckness/Wolf]
12405 'If you're aristocratic,' said Nietzsche... [Sommers,W]