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  • Essay / Machiavelli's view on governance in The Prince

    In his work The Prince, Machiavelli presents a dual perspective on governance that aims to focus the orientation of the perspective beyond the usual approach of leader to leader that we saw previously. Breaking with tradition, Machiavelli's idea that "to fully understand the behavior of rulers one must belong to the lower classes" introduces a whole new set of problems for the reader that introduce the dynamic between the people and the prince. (p.6). This relationship creates a sort of two-tiered point of view, as neither the people nor the prince have a complete perspective. People are therefore not predictable, and it is this statement that truly individualizes Machiavelli's political theory. Incorporating people's perspectives breaks with traditional political theory in that it allows for a type of real-world analysis and contextual precision that is not possible in theoretical and ideological discussions of governance - the Relevant historical examples and personal experience replace moral arguments about goodness in Machiavelli's Realist Doctrine. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayOne of the major effects of such a populist viewpoint is its focus on the actual realistic relationship of the people with the ruler. Rather than “constructing imaginary republics and principalities that never existed in practice and never could have existed,” Machiavelli chose to recognize that “the gap between the way people actually behave and the way people actually behave "How they should behave is so great that anyone who ignores everyday reality in order to live up to an ideal will soon discover that he has been taught to destroy himself" (p. 48). Through the prism of this wisdom, Machiavelli illustrates many significant aspects of the reality of governing a population The most prominent of these are the pervasive ideas of fear and the fragile and fallible nature of control Machiavelli examines the conditions around him to illustrate these principles of leadership -. speaking of the King of Spain, Machiavelli remarks that the king “is always plotting and executing great enterprises, which have always kept his subjects perplexed and astonished, waiting to see what their result would be; he never left space between one [enterprise] and the next for people to plot against him without interruption” (p. 68). Thus, the population can be governed without fear of uprising. “As for what they fear, since men decide for themselves whom they love and rulers decide whom they fear, a wise ruler should rely on the emotion he can control” (p. 53 ). This idea breaks radically from previous ideas of social control that we have seen, because its illustration is based both on reality and on the opinion of the population of the ruler, rather than the ruler of the population. Machiavelli also uses population analysis. stating what to do about mixed principalities. He argues that “one of the best policies” is for the new leader to go and live in his new territories. This will make his hold on them safer and more durable. As a result, [the subjects] have more reasons to love. you, if they behave well, and if they don't, no more reason to fear you” (p.9). The recognition of realities such as cultural institutions and traditions specific to a region is a conception carried out from the point of view of the population, a conception which has been neglected in previous political philosophies with their citizens much.