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Image 5.1 Santi di Tito's portrait of Machiavelli
SECTION 2
- Niccolò Machiavelli -
Controversies of Governance & Justice
For most people, global justice equals impartiality, where decisions
or acts are based solely on objective criteria absent bias, prejudice or
preference. Many believe that true justice for all is synonymous with fair-
ness for all. It is clear from Machiavelli's readings that he believed that
everybody is expected to be honest and straightforward. History shows
us, ha ver, that often it is people who are forceful and, at times devi-
ous, who win. This is what Machiavelli believed to be the reality of poli-
tics.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian philosopher, writer,
and politician. A “Renaissance Man,” Machiavelli was also a poet, play-
wright, and musician (Capponi 418). His famous works, Discourses on
Livy and The Prince, are widely seen as helping to establish modern po-
litical philosophy (418). Born the son of a lawyer and brought up in Flor-
ence, Italy, Machiavelli was a well-educated humanist. At only twenty-
nine years old, he was appointed second chancellor of the republic (419).
Miles Unger, author of Machiavelli: A Biography, believes that Ma-
chiavelli's name has evolved into an adjective used to describe any cyni-
cal act, or the pursuit of power, without conscience (Unger 419). Unger
believes this to be an unfair and inaccurate label (419). While reading the
selection from Discourses on Livy, pay attention to the structure and
logic of Machiavelli's arguments. You may notice that he was simply criti-
cal of the capacities of ordinary citizens to govern themselves (Balot
559). Machiavelli emphasized and endorsed continuous elite intervention
in the political life of the mixed regime, even as he paid due attention to
the people's participation in a political regime with appropriate laws and
institutions (559). Machiavelli's political theory, as embodied in Dis-
courses on Livy, challenges the transparency and equality that contempo-
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Gallery 5.1 Niccolò Machiavelli
Statue of Machiavelli in Florence, Italy
rary egalitarians and democrats embrace (559). Thus, the purpose of gov-
ernment becomes, in large measure, to organize the people so that they
do no harm to one another.
In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli explains the structure of a repub-
lic and its benefits. While Discourses is essentially structured as Machiav-
elli's commentary on the work of Livy (who wrote of the history of Rome),
Machiavelli himself also makes several historical generalizations. Like-
wise, he extensively relates the ancient Rome of Livy to the Italy of his
own time. Ultimately, he concludes that all time periods are similar.
Discourses on Livy contains three books. In Book I, Machiavelli dis-
cusses the inner-workings of a republic. Book Il discusses warfare while
in Book III Machiavelli explores the proper leadership of a republic.
Regarding leadership, Machiavelli suggests that only a single per-
son is capable of establishing a republic or fixing a city that has become
corrupt. For this reason, he believes, a proper republic needs one person
to create it, then once established, many to lead it. However, to establish
a republic in a corrupt city, it is better to form a monarchy than a democ-
racy. Still, it is ideal for even a monarchical republic to have popular sup-
port. For this reason, Machiavelli believes that the best type of state is a
republic that has a mixed constitution (Calabresi 527).
If you believe, like Machiavelli, that in politics the ends justify the
means (scrupulous behavior is not necessarily a requirement of action),
then you are challenging/challenged by one of the most fundamental tra-
ditions of philosophy that we have inherited. In short, that justice and fair-
ness is the fundamental virtue of all political institutions (see par. 1). Fur-
ther, Machiavelli discounted idealism; he believed that if, as a politician,
you subscribe to an ethic, you have a handicap.
Take a look at the political landscape of your home country. Do you
see Machiavelli's arguments about justice and leadership reflected
therein? Machiavelli would absolutely endorse the manner in which some
leaders are removed from positions of power when they are perceived to
undermine effective governance through an insistence on ethical behav-
ior. Ethics, in short, are secondary to effective leadership.
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