Aristotle, I have traveled to the country of Serbia and Montenegro and have studied the constitution that governs the people of that country. My analysis is based on your lectures and so I will explain their constitution in your terms. In looking at the constitution, I found that it did not fit into any category perfectly, and therefore is mixed rather than pure, but it can be described fairly accurately as a constitutional-aristocracy.
The constitution is split in its qualities that are aristocratic and constitutional, and we can see that first in the election process, starting with the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. The election of the assembly is constitutional because they are elected by all of the people, and the people can elect anybody that they want (as long as they meet constitutional requirements of citizenship). This characteristic of constitutional governments was identified by you in book six (1317b17-20). However, the Serbian constitution does not require all to serve and therefore is not constitutional or democratic in this sense, but, in regard to elections, it is still more constitutional than it is aristocratic or monarchic. Of course the appointment of offices is not monarchic because there is an election, and it is not aristocratic by your definition found in book 5 “That some should appoint from all, and that sometimes all should appoint from some, by vote, is aristocratic.”(1300b1-5). This is saying that in aristocratic elections, either the few choose from the many or the many choose from only a few. The key is that only a few are capable in both circumstances. For these reasons we can conclude that the constitution of Serbia Montenegro, in regard to election of the Assembly, is constitutional or democratic.
The Assembly, it should be noted, is not the only governing office of the state of Serbia Montenegro. Besides the Assembly there are also: the President and Vice-President, the Council of Ministers, and the Court (or judiciary). The interesting thing about these governing bodies is that they are not elected by the people. Instead, they are elected, or more precisely appointed, by the Assembly. To be more accurate, the Assembly selects the President and Vice-President, the President nominates the Council of Ministers members, and the Council nominates the judges[[[ articles:]]]. Though, all of them must be approved by the majority of the Assembly. Since it is a few, the assembly, who elect these other parts of the government, then we have to say that, in this case, that the government is aristocratic. It is treated that the assembly is composed of people better able to select state officials. This parliamentary style of government plays to the idea that you elect those who know more about government, so they can choose the best administrators; it is slightly more aristocratic than a Republic like that of the United States. Serbia and Montenegro’s constitution is at its most aristocratic in the election of judges, which the constitution places a strict requirement on. It says, “The judges shall be graduate jurists with at least 15 years of practical experience in that line of activity.”(Article 47).
Another way for me to judge the constitution is in terms of equality. In aristocratic/oligarchic governments some people are deemed superior by such things as merit and wealth. While in constitutional/democratic governments all are considered equal. These different views are responsible for the different qualifications for elections. In Serbia and Montenegro all are considered equal and therefore all can vote and all can be voted for; at least for the Assembly. And from this we see further evidence that their constitution is constitutional or democratic. Despite this we cannot say that this disproves the case that Serbia and Montenegro is aristocratic, because you ascertain that, “In the aristocratic or constitutional state, one element will be taken from each - from oligarchy the principle of electing to offices, from democracy the disregard for qualification.”(Book 4 1294b10-15). It is somewhat confusing though that right before this you said that a constitutional government is the mean of the combination of oligarchy and democracy (1294a40- 1294b1-3). It is confusing because this leaves aristocracy somewhat ambiguous, because you don’t describe how aristocracy combines elements of oligarchy and democracy, but I think the thing that makes aristocracy and constitutional government hard to distinguish is their same characteristic of being natural, and not perverted.
Though it is hard for us to decide whether their constitution is constitutional or aristocratic, it is easy to see whether or not it is natural or perverted. The element that distinguished a natural government from a perverted one is the natural government’s serving of the common interest, and this I think helps us to identify their form of government (1279a25-40). Both aristocracies and constitutional governments serve the common interest, because they do not serve any one group above others; all are protected, all are served. Instead of aristocratic the constitution of Serbia-Montenegro could be called oligarchic, and instead of constitutional it could be called democratic, if it was not the common interest that was served. If a certain group was only looking out for its own group then it would be perverted, and in the case of Serbia-Montenegro it appears, from its constitution, to serve the common interest. In one way, the common interest of all is ensured in articles seven, eight, and nine; in the protection of civilian rights for all people and the protection of citizenship. The third sentence of article 3 also points to their goal of equality. Their constitution displays the effort to serve the common interest in regard to ethnicity as well. This can be found throughout the constitution, such as article 21, which states that the president and vice president cannot be from the same member state. This helps to ensure that one ethnic group does not gain more power than another. Another protection against this in their constitution is term limits, because this protects against the forming of a group of elitists characteristic of oligarchies.
So it is my conclusion that the state of Serbia and Montenegro is a constitutional-aristocracy. It is constitutional, because everybody can vote and everybody can be voted for in the Assembly, which is the most powerful body in their government. But also has elements of aristocracy in the election process since the Assembly, a small group of those deemed exceptional, elects many officials of the government. Some might disagree with my claim that their government is aristocratic, because they are not necessarily elected on the basis that they are considered excellent, and also because the Assembly is elected by the people, and the Assembly is the most powerful part of the government. But it seems that in elections there is a tendency for people to elect based on how good they think the official will do in governing. And that those selected based on qualification, must be expected to understand the nature of government better, and therefore themselves can select better officials for running the government. So their constitution is not only aristocratic in the number of officials (which is smaller than a democracy which has many people serving), but also in spirit by supporting a government of excellence; the parliamentary style is aristocratic. In terms of equality, the Serbia and Montenegro constitution supports the democratic or constitutional form of government with everybody having an equal vote. It could be argued that the government is unequal, since Serbia has 91 members in the Assembly, and Montenegro only has 35 (and this is proportional to population, which supports aristocracy). But the constitution definitely is not oligarchic or democratic, because it serves the common interest of all people, and this is how their constitution supports both aristocratic and constitutional government. Serbia and Montenegro’s constitution is natural, it’s just debatable how mixed it is, and I see it as slightly more constitutional.

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