Machiavellian Politics in The Prince
The Prince, written by Niccolo Machiavelli, is one of the first examinations of
politics and science from a purely scientific and rational perspective.
Machiavelli theorizes that the state is only created if the people cooperate
and work to maintain it. The state is also one of man's greatest endeavors,
and the state takes precedence over everything else. The state should be
one's primary focus, and maintaining the sovereignty of the state one's most
vital concern. The state is founded on the power of its military. Therefore, a
strong military is vital to maintaining the state. Machiavelli believes that men
respect power, but they will take advantage of kindness. He believes that
when given the opportunity one must destroy completely, because if one
does not he will certainly be destroyed. The prince should lead the military,
and he has to be intelligent. An effective politician can make quick and
intelligent choices about the problems that coneztly arise before him. He
must also have virtue, which means he is strong, confident, talented, as well
as smart. A prince cannot be uncertain, because uncertainty is a sign of
weakness. Fortune controls half of human's actions, and man's will control the
other half. Virtue is the best defense for fortune, and virtue must be used in
order to keep fortune in check. The prince must take advantage of situations
based solely on if it is best for the state. He should choose his decisions
based on contemporary and historical examples. A prince cannot consider
whether his acts are moral or immoral, and he instead must act in an
unbiased manner for the state. Also, it does not matter how the state
achieves its goals, as long as these goals are achieved. Finally, regardless of
the personal morality involved, the prince should be praised if he does good
for the state and berated if he hurts the state. Machiavelli's principles have
widespread influence, and they are quite similar to some of Thomas Hobbes
ideas in Leviathan.
Machiavelli has a very low opinion of the people throughout history. In
general, he feels that men are "ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceiver." "They
shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are
yours. They would shed their blood for you but when you are in danger
they turn against you." Machiavelli basically has little respect for the people,
and he feels as though they have not earned much either. He uses this as
justification for the use of fear in order to control people. He also feels that
men are "wretched creatures who would not keep their word to you, you need
not keep your word to them." This sense of fairness justifies breaking one's
word to men. Machiavelli also writes about how hard it must be for a prince to
stay virtuous. He concludes that with so many wretched men around virtue is
hard to create in oneself. "The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously
in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not
virtuous." Overall, Machiavelli is very pessimistic about the abilities of the
people. He feels that after examining people through history, his conclusions
of wretched men are correct.
Machiavelli tells us that the sovereign must take whatever action is necessary
to maintain order in society. In time this will result in the most compassionate
choice too. Machiavelli explains that, Cesare Borgia, by using cruelty was able
to achieve order and obedience in Romangna. This contrast with the inaction
of the Florentines, who allowed internal conflict to develop in Pistoia, resulting
in devastation of the city. Therefore, a number of highly visible executions
can be a very effective means of controlling the people and in preventing a
major out break of violence and murder. Machiavelli also cites the
tremendous military successes of Hannibal. Even though Hannibal led an
army of different races over foreign soil, he never had any dissension
because of his reputation of extreme cruelty. Machiavelli further concludes
that it is difficult to be loved and feared simultaneously. Hence, one should
always prefer to be feared than to be loved. During adverse times, the fear of
punishment is far more effective in maintaining control than depending
people's goodwill and love. Finally, excessive leniency will lead to ruin,
because leniency is seen as a sign of weakness. A good historical example
was when Scipio's armies mutinied against him in Spain.
Machiavelli talks consistently about the Roman empire and its rulers.
Particularly, he stresses the importance of having a strong army and popular
support by the army and people. The Roman emperors proved to us many
times that a ruler who is perceived to be weak is the most vulnerable to
attack. Alexander Severus was controlled by his mother and considered
feminine by his troops. He was a good ruler, but it was this appearance of
weakness that led his troops to kill him. Antonius Caracalla is another
example of an erroneous ruler. He was a very strong military leader who was
a great fighter. Unfortunately, he became an incredibly cruel and harsh ruler
over time, and he was hence killed by a centurion. Machiavelli also includes
the country of Italy into much of his writings. He hopes to reclaim the land
which has been taken away from them. He feels that Italian princes have lost
their states because they have not had armed people. Machiavelli tells us
that an "armed population is a stable population". The Italian princes also
have not acted quickly, like a real prince should act. Julius II did act quick,
and Machiavelli attributes this to his success. In reality, the whole purpose
behind Machiavelli writing The Prince was to try and help Italy free itself from
foreign domination.
The Prince has been an incredibly important book. It was written in the
1500's, but much of it still applies today. The book also has influenced many
people in history. Many philosophers credit Machiavelli with leading the way
in political science. They say this because he was the first person to take a
rational approach at analyzing government and politics. Many of Machiavelli's
critics would say that he is to harsh in his ideas, and that he even seems
immoral. The truth is Machiavelli is only being honest with what he has
observed consistently in history to be true. The effect of his writing are still
found today too. People still need virtue in order to be a good ruler or
manager. Success is still to those who can make quick and intelligent choices.
The government is still supported most by it amount of power. However,
countries are held accountable today, and few would agree that the end
justifies the means as Machiavelli wrote. Overall, Machiavelli's work has
lasted through the years, and it has proven to be a classic piece of literature
by ezding the test of time.
