Governing countries and states properly has been a difficult task from th beginning of time. In every country there will be people to who are unhapp and will disagree with your rule, causing your system to fail. So, century afte century, people have tried new ways to make their politics suffice everyone’ needs.
However, the art of politics is a complicated and challenging issue tha will always be needed to be dealt with. There have been many ways in whic people have preached their ideas on politics, but none were better than those o Niccolo Machiavelli. Born in 1469, Niccolo was adamant in creating a maste plan for seizing and controlling power. He voiced these themes on what it take to be a prince of a state in his magnificent book, The Prince.
In his book man themes were expressed in order to fulfill the role of a prince. These theme ranged from human nature to military force and most importantly virtue. Machavelli believed that the state is the highest achievement of man an one should love the state more than his own soul. Being the perfect prince i clearly a difficult task, but if done correctly, it can be very rewarding. Machiavell also believed that human nature does not change. In general Machiavell thought people were ungrateful, selfish, and insincere people, who only car about themselves. Therefore the government must take account for man’s tru nature and use his qualities for its purposes.
Machiavelli also explained that ruler who intends to be successful must be prepared to do bad things whe necessary. He must sometimes caress, sometimes hurt, sometimes forgive, an sometimes punish. This requirement must override all moral judgments, an when making the decision, the ruler must act without hesitation. Hesitatio Another, and probably the most important concept of political success i the idea of virtue. Virtue means strength, intelligence, and courage, th necessary qualities of any human being. Machiavelli felt that the quality of virtu was found in some of the world’s most important leaders; Moses, Cyrus, an Romulus to name a few. Governments ruled by an individual depends upon thi leaders virtue. Without it, the political success will crumble. Aside from virtue there is fortune or fate as we sometimes put it.
Althoug Machiavelli feels that the quality of virtue is necessary for a states success chance or luck also has an affect. He feels that in life no matter how muc intelligence and strength you have, there is a part of life in which you have littl or no control over. Virtue being a powerful quality, Machiavelli saw its potentia to build a defense against fortune. However, fortune is inconsistent and variabl so, you must treat it like a woman. Machiavelli states, and I quote, “fortune i woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to conquer her by force”. His point is that when you encounter fortune, you must approach it aggressively. Machiavelli said that the ruler must be able to imitate both the lion and th fox.
He is saying that the qualities of a ruler must show the bravery and strengt of a lion, but also, the slyness of the fox. These characteristics are imperativ for a new ruler especially. That way he can get the respect from the people righ away. An example of one ruler who showed both the qualities of a lion and a fo was Septimus Serverus, a Roman emperor from 193-211 A.D. Another quality o a ruler should be that he is both loved and feared. In actuality, it is almos impossible to be both those, so it is better to be feared. Love can los effectiveness because of human nature.
When something conflicts, love ca easily be overcome for one’s own private interests. And fear on the other han is maintained by the dread of punishment, which is always present. Machiavell made it very clear why it is better to be feared than loved. Another quality of prince is that it is better to be considered merciful than cruel, but mercy mus Machiavelli declared that the art of war was the subject of mos importance to the ruler. A prince can be attacked in two ways: internally, b conspiracies, and externally, by enemies. A prince can defend himself fro external attacks by having good armed forces and good friends. He can defen himself from conspiracies by avoiding hatred.
Machiavelli also stated that n prince should disarm his subjects or else he will have to resort to mercenar troops. This would mean you would have to depend on the help of foreig countries. These mercenaries are not fighting for their country so they don’ care whether they win of lose. They are in it for the money so they are no reliable. Machiavelli says the only way to have security is raising troops withi the country.
They would be loyal soldiers who would be defending their hom and families. He also felt it was necessary to study history. This way he ca focus on successful rulers’ victories and defeats and analyze them for his ow well being. Alexander the Great studied and imitated the rule of Achilles an went on to become one of the most successful rulers ever. Machiavelli felt tha these were necessary means in becoming a successful ruler. He also fel fortifications had little importance, stating “the best fortress is to be found in th In Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, we have read numerous aspects o becoming an effective and successful ruler. He focused on all aspects of lif and discussed each in great detail.
He studied human nature, fortune, militar tactics, virtue, and personal qualities of past rulers and analyzed why each one’ rule collapsed. He found out the ruler with both the lion and the fox qualities, h was able to have a successful rule. Machiavelli was creating some sort o machine that would be able to conquer fortune, human nature, conspiracies battle, and the test of to time to rule a politically unified Italy. The themes in Th Prince have changed views on politics and leadership to this day.
