Offers a careful analysis of how Aristotle understands civil war partisanship distrust in government disagreement and competition and explores ways in which these views are relevant to contemporary political theory.Do only modern thinkers like Machiavelli and Hobbes accept that conflict plays a significant role in the origin and maintenance of political community In this book Steven Skultety argues that Aristotle not only took conflict to be an inevitable aspect of political life but further recognized ways in which conflict promotes the common good. While many scholars treat Aristotelian conflict as an absence of substantive communal ideals Skultety argues that Aristotle articulated a view of politics that theorizes profoundly different kinds of conflict. Aristotle comprehended the subtle factors that can lead otherwise peaceful citizens to contemplate outright civil war grasped the unique conditions that create hopelessly implacable partisans and systematized tactics rulers could use to control regrettable but still manageable levels of civic distrust.