Aristotle's political sociology and modern representative democracy

Aristotle establishes a close connection between social structure and the forms of government. There are two empirically frequent and analytically pure forms: oligarchy (the rule of the rich), and democracy (the rule of the poor). Aristotle prefers, under normal social circumstances, a mixed form of government, politeia, i.e. constitutional democracy in which a key role is played by numerous middle classes, as this form of government is the best 'for most communities and for most people'. Present-day representative democracy can be justifiably considered a 'well-mixed' form of government consisting of democratic as well as oligarchic elements in the sense of Aristotle's argument in Politics.