A compact, high-torque electric motor in which one motor element (either the stator or rotor) has magnetic poles whose effective magnetic width is substantially equal and which span equal center angles. The second motor element has a plurality of armature groups, each of which occupies a phase sector of the motor element formed by dividing the total periphery by a natural number. All of the armatures within an armature group are connected electrically in series and excited with a current of one phase (either an alternating current phase or an equivalent phase generated by commutator action). Within on pole group the poles may have equal widths or different widths.