Machiavelli’s Political Realism: Power and the Prince
Machiavelli’s Political Realism
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) is a prominent figure in Renaissance political thought. His ideas stemmed from his practical experience in politics and diplomacy. His most significant work, The Prince, was written to gain favor with the Medici family.
This work is the source of the common image of Machiavelli and so-called “Machiavellianism,” which suggests that any method is acceptable to gain and maintain power. Unlike the utopian thinking of his contemporary, Thomas More, who believed that policy should be implemented within an ethical framework, Machiavelli’s position is characterized by political realism. He was interested in how to effectively govern a state, not in how a good government should be.
Traditional political debate focused on what should be (moral), but Machiavelli proposed considering only reality, excluding any moral considerations from the political sphere. Any action, however immoral, is legitimate if it achieves the end state.
The Prince: Power and Pragmatism
Theme: A prince must learn to be “not good” if he wants to maintain power.
Key Idea: One should pursue the real truth of the matter, not an idealized imagination of it, as many have done by imagining republics and principalities that have never existed. There is a significant difference between how one lives and how one should live. A person who is guided by how things should be will be ruined by trying to do good.
Therefore, a prince must learn to be “not good” and use that ability as required by the needs of the State.
Machiavelli’s Political Realism Explained
Example: This text clearly demonstrates the political realism that characterizes Machiavelli’s thought: what matters is how things are in politics, not how they should be. The author argues that we must pursue the real truth, not an idealized imagination, as others have done, including contemporary authors like Thomas More and Campanella, who designed ideal worlds that do not exist.
In contrast to More’s utopian thinking, which places politics within the realm of ethics, Machiavelli’s realism leads him to assert that there is a vast difference between how one lives (reality) and how one should live (ethics). Those who are guided by the latter, shaping their lives morally, will be ruined. Therefore, a prince cannot afford to be good if he wants to stay in power and must act based on necessity and the interests of the state.
In The Prince, inspired by King Ferdinand and dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici, Machiavelli developed a manual for rulers on how to establish a stable state. The ruler must realistically manage power, which is unlimited within their territory. To succeed, the prince needs virtue, a synthesis of craft, insight, perseverance, determination, and strength. The prince becomes the absolute arbiter of power and should not be subject to or trust anyone, because human nature allows for both goodness and evil. Ruling requires cunning, the ability to act with kindness, but also to use evil when necessary. To achieve the goal of ensuring stability and order in the community, the prince can use all means at their disposal: the ends justify the means. All policy decisions are governed by the right of the State, the interests of the State, which are not subject to morality or God.