The community was meant to be made of free people. The rules were supposed to follow the principle of justice, punishing those who would try to behave in an unjust manner (Aristotle's Political Theory, 2002).. In addition, he believed that the constitution was meant to serve the best interest of everybody and not just the rulers. This is an important strong point of the city-state concept since it puts the basis for a democratic approach.

A point which may be on the other hand considered weak refers to the conception according to which people living within the community would be willing to act in manner which would bring mutual benefits. In the philosophers' view, the fact of living within the community acted strongly upon the nature of man (Introduction to Aristotle).Reality has showed that the egoistic impulses of human nature are maintained even within the city-state in the presence of rules and educational processes which favour morality. So perhaps the city-state is a necessary instrument but not a sufficient condition for the achievement of perfection....

Or perhaps human nature is so corrupted that perfection can not actually be attained.
All in all the city-state is a concept of fundamental importance for the further development of political science. The fact that it deals with matters such as the relation between morality and politics, the weight of human nature, the importance of ideals, the causes of change, etc. does nothing but underline its great complexity.

Bibliography:

Aristotle, Benjamin Jowett. 2009. Politics by Aristotle. IndoEuropean Publishing.com

Aristotle's Political Theory. 2002. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 30, 2009 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/

Introduction to Aristotle, University of Washington, Retrieved November 30, 2009 from http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm

Presuppositions of Aristotle's Politics. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 30, 2009 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/supplement2.html