THE NATURE OF POLITICS 15

Attempts are sometimes made to build national policies on the
basis of race-doctrine. The pre-War struggle for the Balkans,
between the German and Austrian Empires on the one hand,
and the Russian on the other, was represented as a conflict
between German and Slav; the persecution of Jews is defended
on the ground that race-purity must be preserved. The facts
of racial history, however, are too obscure to form a satisfactory
basis for policy; and so far as they are ascertained, they do not
support the belief that there are "pure" races. Racial arguments
are as a rule the pretexts by which a particular section or class
tries to justify action taken in its own interest. "The art of
politics", writes Dr. Conze, ''consists in hiding one's purposes
and motives; the science of politics and society consists in
laying them bare".1

DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN THE STATE,

Confusion over words appears also in the attempt to classify
States according to the distribution of power in them. The Greek
writer, Aristotle, in the fourth century B.C., noticed these types:—
(i) Those where power is held by one man—monarchy, (ii) Where
power is held by a few—aristocracy, (iii) Where power is held by
the mass of the people—democracy. These forms could also be
called tyranny, oligarchy and ochlocracy (mob-rule) respectively,
in order to express disapproval. Most of these words are still
used, but they do not serve a modern Student of politics as well
as they served Aristotle; they describe appearances rather than
realities. The only reason why Germany is not called a monarchy
is that Hitler does not wear a crown, and is known as Leader
rather than as King or Emperor. The presence of a Ring suggests
that the United Kingdom is a monarchy; the sight of thirty
million people entitled to vote suggests democracy; the power
of Press magnates to influence opinion, and of great industrialists
to influence policy, supports the view that oligarchy, or
plutocracy (rule of the wealthy) is the most suitable name.

1E. Conze\ The Scientific Method of Thinking* For a detailed
examination of races in Europe, see Huxley & Haddon, We Europeans.