| Machiavelli: Prince of Politicians? |
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Part 2: To Coin a Phrase
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"Ci potete credere cosa accade con l'elezione? È stupefacente!"
JOESTOE5
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Nicolò Machiavelli's works included The History of Florence, Life of Castruccio Castracani, Murder of Vitellozzo Vitelli, The Art of War, and Madragale. Machiavelli is best known, though, for Il Principe (The Prince), whose main theme is that all means may be used in order to maintain authority, and that the worst acts of the ruler are justified by the treachery of the government.
To Coin A Phrase
Many of Machiavelli's thoughts, such as "it is much more secure to be feared, than to be loved" have lived centuries as slogans. Il Principe was condemned by the pope, but its viewpoints gave rise to the well-known adjective machiavellian, now a synonym for political maneuvers marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith. During a recent MSNBC broadcast of the network's political round-table program Hardball, host Chris Matthews described the Florida election story as "...clean, aggressive, Machiavellian politics...there is no illegality, no dirty tricks. This is inside politics, outside."
Machiavelli drew upon examples from both ancient and more recent history and also used his own experiences. What distinguished Machiavelli's tome from other such works was the originality and practicality of his thinking. Neither the attempts to interpret Machiavelli's ideas as first steps to democratic thoughts or examples of evil reflect a balanced view of his writing.
"E debbasi considerare come non è cosa più difficile a trattare, né più dubia a riuscire, né più pericolosa a maneggiare, che farsi capo ad introdurre nuovi ordini."
Il Principe, Capitolo VI
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."
The Prince, Chapter VI
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