Machiavelli Research Articles

‘Now a New Kingdom of Femininity is Begun’

Abstract Though it has been virtually ignored by historians of political thought, Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies(1405) is the first work of political theory on the grand scale by a woman. It is a serious analysis of the nature of political reality, and it offers a remedy common in the Western political tradition the creation of a kallipolis, a utopian “city in words,” to serve as a guide to political thought and practice. Though written in the form of a medieval allegory, The Book of the City of Ladiesis remarkably modern in its elevation of individual reason, its analysis and critique of the social construction of private and public gender roles, and its hard-headed analysis of the use of power in political life. The book functions as a manual for princesses, in fact as a manual of empowerment for all women, and in its substance and its use of esoteric literary techniques can be fruitfully compared to Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince.

Amazing Grace: Fortune, God, and Free Will in Machiavelli's Thought

Surely there is no political theorist about whom scholarly opinion is more divided than Niccolo Machiavelli. The subject of intense and continuous examination almost from the time of his death, Machiavelli has become if anything more enigmatic with the passage of time and the proliferation of interpretations. Although one might argue that this fact reflects the highly unsystematic and context-bound nature of his thought, the now well-established consistencies in his linguistic usage and narrative style suggest that certain principles inform his writings across genre and circumstance.' One of the most contentious aspects of Machiavelli's writing has been his attitude towards religion, in particular, Christianity.2 To be sure, Machiavelli

Fortune is a River: Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History (review)

Fortune is a River: Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History (review)

:Fortune is a River: Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History

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A Memo from Machiavelli

TO: Presidents, Senior Administrators, and Faculty Leaders Who Would Seek Change FROM: Niccolo Machiavelli, Former Assistant to Presidents, University of the Medici Permit me to take a brief moment of valuable time to introduce myself. I served for years as special assistant to kings, dukes, generals, several popes and, as well, numerous presidents, senior executives and faculty at the University of the Medici. I have significant domestic and international experience - for in this capacity I have also worked with governors, state and national legislators, wealthy donors, foundations, public relations firms, religious societies, city and county officials, law enforcement agencies, and community activists. I have also coordinated activities with ministers of education throughout Europe. I had the distinct pleasure of hearing recent address to the Faculty Senate. You spoke of a bold tomorrow, the need for change in institution, including the manner in which work is accomplished and evaluated. You discussed technology, distance learning, diversity, student services, the need for alternative criteria to evaluate faculty, new relationships with unions, funding, and student and alumni constituencies. You discussed how the role of the university, with the state, the city, and the federal government will change. You cited emerging relationships with the business community and argued persuasively, in my opinion, that unless the academic establishment begins to refocus its priorities, the university, as it once existed, will lose the autonomy and freedom to offer sound educational programs. I am in no position to quarrel with premises. (I am unemployed at the moment.) I was impressed with grasp of fundamental issues facing higher education. I am, however, curious as to how you will implement these new ideas. Because I have advised over one hundred senior executives and faculty on change and implementation strategies, I thought you might appreciate my observations. My comments are based on real experiences. They are offered to you as a gift, yours to keep or discard at pleasure. Parenthetically, I do not mean to be presumptuous or overbearing in this letter. University executives and faculty leaders are (on occasion) startled at my directness and characterization of the uses of power and influence. I understand you are a gifted individual and would not hold position and title unless you possessed exemplary traits. Like most intelligent people with whom I have worked, they appreciate candor. (Please ignore my biases though!) I do not want to sound as though I were sending you into an armed battle. Neither should we pretend, if you are serious about ideals and goals, that people will simply adopt your new vision. Decision Processes in Professional Organizations: Contemporary Realities The key to being effective and the ability to make change begins first with an accurate assessment of the type of organization in which you work. Secondly, you must appreciate how decisions are made and who, if anyone, implements them. Universities and colleges have a number of unique characteristics. Fundamentally, they are organizations, and, in order to handle that complex and delicate task, they usually have large staffs of highly trained professionals. Because people cannot be divided into segmentalized tasks in the same way that physical products can, professionals with a high level of expertise are needed to deal holistically with clients' needs. Thus it is that the first characteristic of academic organizations is that they are highly professionalized, client-serving systems. Second, people-processing organizations have extremely ambiguous goals, and a list of legitimate activities for a university is extremely long. Because goals are often unclear, almost any activity that serves a client may be considered legitimate. …

APPUNTI SUL TESTO DEI DISCORSI

Niccolo Machiavelli's Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio were never published by their author. Some years after Machiavelli's death, two editions of the Discorsi appeared almost simultaneously in Rome (1531) and in Florence (1532). They became the basis for all subsequent editions of the work. The first detailed study of the text of the Discorsi was made by Guido Mazzoni, who in 1929 published the first and hitherto only critical edition of the work. In the editions that have since appeared, the text as established by Mazzoni was reproduced, though in a few cases with a small number of corrections. In this article, after some preliminary observations about the textual tradition of the Discorsi and a brief characterisation of Mazzoni's critical edition, some new emendations are proposed to Mazzoni's text and to the text as transmitted by the principal surviving witnesses to the work.

Machiavelli's legacy to public affairs: A modern tale of servants and princes in UK organisations

Drawing on the work of Niccolo Machiavelli and his appreciation of management and power, this paper explores the contemporary role of public affairs in UK organisations and the type of roles enacted by practitioners. The paper reviews how public affairs and, particularly, the corporate lobbying function have been treated by researchers and outlines recent research into the role played by public affairs practitioners based within a number of leading UK organisations. This study forms part of a longer‐term research programme designed to examine the functioning of in‐house public affairs departments within the UK. The paper explores how the role of public affairs practitioners can be conceptualised and suggests that public affairs and corporate lobbying have gained increasing recognition as strategically important activities, particularly within the more regulated sectors of industry.

:Machiavelli, Leonardo, and the Science of Power

In recent years, Niccolo Machiavelli's works have been viewed primarily with historical interest as analyses of the tactics used by immoral political officials. author in this text, argues that Machiavelli should be reconsidered as a major philosopher whose thought makes the wisdom of antiquity accessible to the modern (and post-modern) condition, and whose understanding of human nature is superior to that of such moderns as Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx or Mill. Central to this claim is the author's discovery that Machiavelli knew and worked with Leonardo da Vinci between 1502-1507. After introducing historical evidence of the circumstances in which da Vinci and Machiavelli probably met, the author reinterprets The Prince in the light of what came to be modern science. He presents an account of Machiavelli's teaching as a scientific approach to human nature and politics. In this reading, the lion, fox, and wolves symbolise principles studied in contemporary biology, whereas the dikes and dams controlling the river of fortune describe Machiavelli's experience of diverting the Arno river, apparently aided by Leonardo's expertise, in hopes of winning a war with Pisa. Masters relates Machiaveli's views to the history of centralised governments, to models in rational choice or game theory, and to neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. This approach shows how Machiavelli's view of leadership clarifies the role of television in industrialised societies and the profound transformations in contemporary politics.

Adumbrations of power and the politics of appearances in Medicean Florence

As Nicolai Rubinstein has so eloquently appreciated, no single building in Florence has witnessed as much change or been endowed with as much sym bolic significance as the Palazzo della Signoria, also known as the Palazzo Vec chio.1 It has been a continuous seat of government in Florence since its completion in the early fourteenth century. With its imposing proportions, rusticated stone facade, and slender tower, the Palazzo Vecchio has long been associated with the history and culture of the Florentine Renaissance; within its walls humanists like Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruni delivered their orations in praise of Florence and its republican traditions, and nearly a century later, Niccolo Machiavelli laboured there as secretary to the Second Chancery and to the Died in charge of foreign affairs.2 The Palazzo was originally commissioned in 1298 to be the seat of the guild dominated government of the newly constituted Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, or Standardbearer of Justice, and the Council of Priors. The new government traced its foundations to the victory of the Guelf faction over the Ghibellines and with the successful exile of unruly magnate clans from the city. From its very beginnings the Palazzo made a powerful political statement, for it was built on the site of the ruined medieval towers belonging to exiled magnate families. The Palazzo thus proclaimed a Guelf victory and the power of the city's wealthiest merchant guilds to restore order and govern itself. But by the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, guild government gave way to oligarchy, and first the Albizzi faction and then, in 1434, the Medici faction, led by Cosimo de' Medici, managed the city's affairs, in practice if not in name.

The Founding Murder in Machiavelli's The Prince

THE FOUNDING MURDER IN MACHIAVELLI'S THEPRINCE Jim Grote Archdiocese ofLouisville One ofthe doctors ofItaly, Nicholas Machiavel, had the confidence to put in writing, almost in plain terms, "That the Christian faitii had given up good men in prey to Üiose who are tyrannical and unjust." (Francis Bacon) A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian ofdie Cross calls the tìiing what it actually is. (Martin Luúher) René Girard has written eloquently ofthe founding murder described by Friedrich Nietzsche in aphorism 125 from The Gay Science (Girard 1988). In aphorism 125, Nietzsche reflects on the modem prophecy that "God is dead." The crowd, who surrounds the Madman in this aphorism, assumes that God has died ofnatural causes. As Girard says: "Nietzsche is taken to be the great prophet ofthe natural death ofGod" (Girard 1988, 232). The belief in God remains in modernity as a vestige ofthat senility to which God succumbed a long time ago. Unlike the crowd, the Madman cannot keep from hysterical outbursts about the unnatural death of God. "We have killed Him—you and I! All of us are his murderers!" According to Girard, the Madman's ravings are clues to an original collective murder that human culture JimGrote119 has been unable to repress despite its artistic and philosophic endeavors to the contrary. In fact, this founding violence is the foundation ofculture itself. It is surprising that Girard has written little about another modem prophet, Niccolo Machiavelli. A comparison and contrast of Girard's thought with Machiavelli's sheds an interesting light on both ofthem. IfNietzsche is the modern prophet (however misunderstood) of the unnatural death of God, Machiavelli is the modem prophet concerning the unnatural death ofhuman beings. A recent translator ofMachiavelli's The Prince argues that the heart ofhis teaching can be summed up in die simple adage: "you can get away with murder."1 One might summarize Girard's thought in a similar manner: "You cannot get away with murder." In order to better understand the role of the founding murder in modem thought it is useful to turn to the thought ofNiccolo Machiavelli. According to the political philosopher, Leo Strauss, the modernity that culminated in the work of Nietzsche was bom in the work of Machiavelli.2 Strauss describes Machiavelli as the founder ofmodernity. For Machiavelli all foundings entail violence. No enduring society can come into being without the equivalent of Romulus' murder of his brother Remus. Political order is established by a crime that necessarily transcends the boundaries of that order because it creates that very order. Morality is founded by immorality. Girard articulates the founding violence as a cultural rather than a political phenomenon. Machiavelli's political foundings presuppose Girard's cultural founding. In Girard's view of the founding murder, the original chaos or Hobbesian war of all-against-all is replaced by the sacrificial order of allagainst -one. Consider Gil Bailie's description ofthe founding murder: Primitive religion is bom at this moment, the moment when, as Girard puts it, "the atmosphere of terror and hallucination that accompanies the primordial religious experience" reaches its climax, and "the detente that follows only heightens the mystery of the whole process." In the beginning was the hush. Human culture as such begins with 1 See Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr.'s translation ofNiccolo Machiavelli's The Prince (vii). All quotations in the present essay cite both the chapter from The Prince and the page number from Mansfield's translation. Quotations from Machiavelli's Discourses are from Harvey C. Mansfield and Nathan Tarcov's translation, NiccoloMachiavelli: Discourses on Livy. 2 See Leo Strauss, "The Three Waves ofModernity" in Hilail Gildin, An Introduction to PoliticalPhilosophy: TenEssays byLeo Strauss. The three waves are Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Nietzsche. 120The FoundingMurder the community of victimizers looking at the corpse of its victim in solemn astonishment at the miracle of camaraderie that hasjust taken place. Whereas but a moment before strife had prevaüed, now there is a unanimous religious awe focused on the corpse ofthe victim. (22) This original sacrifice is not a rational decision or social contract. It is an unconscious mechanism. "There is no such thing as conscious scapegoating. Conscious...

Political Prudence and the Ethics of Leadership

A vital policy initiative fails due to skilled opposition. A fine program disintegrates under pressure of an unanticipated backlash. A powerful and strong institution collapses when its long-time leader departs. A new leader full of good intentions soon flees office overcome by frustration and ineffectiveness. These all-too-familiar examples highlight haunting reality that good intentions, moral conviction, and even technical competence do not guarantee success in political and administrative life. This disjunction of ethics and achievement has inspired many to despair of relationship between ethics and leadership, best summed up by Niccolo Machiavelli, the man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous (Machiavelli, 1973, 15). This realist view argues that leaders cannot afford ethics in a world of serious responsibilities, powerful institutions, and committed adversaries (Morgenthau, 1959; Watz, 1957; Cohen, 1987). The realist view competes with an alternative moral conception of leadership in natural law and Kantian traditions, which argues that leaders should follow requirements of ethics (Gierke, 1934; Kant, 1957). The leadership literature reflects this split between realpolitik and moralism. Classic studies focus upon tactical and personality dimensions of successful leadership (Neustadt, 1976; Tucker, 1995). A number of writers, however, call for an explicit recognition of moral nature of leadership (Burns, 1978; Gardner, 1990; Terry, 1995). These studies succeed in identifying moral nature of leadership but seldom provide consistent guidelines about where leadership ethics should focus. Recent theorists have argued that a virtue based ethics focuses upon moral quality of person and can inform an ethics of leadership (Galston, 1991; Norton, 1991; Cooper, 1987; Cooper and Wright, 1992). From time of Aristotle, theorists have argued that of all virtues, prudence represents linchpin of political judgment and that any theory of leadership needs to develop an account of prudence (Coll, 1991; Dunn, 1985; 1990, esp. 199-215; Dobel, 1990). Building on this tradition, I will argue that political prudence is a central moral resource for political leaders. This article presents an account of political prudence focusing upon its operational requirements. These requirements provide a moral framework to guide and evaluate actions. This article will discuss relationship between virtue and leadership, prudence as a virtue derived from requirements of political achievement, and normative responsibilities and obligations that flow from political prudence. Virtue and Leadership Leadership entails ethics because leaders have responsibilities. Persons in positions of leadership make a difference; they can bring about changes in behavior that would not occur without their presence and actions. Leading is not always linked to official authority; in fact, leadership opportunities exist throughout political and organizational life. Individuals or institutions rely on leaders to accomplish tasks. Fellow citizens, colleagues, and subordinates depend on leader and arc vulnerable to consequences of his or her actions. They rely on leader's competence and promises. Citizens depend on official leaders to protect their security, welfare, and basic interests. Colleagues and other officials depend on leaders to enable them to perform their work. Leaders who hold office are responsible for respecting that reliance, vulnerability, and dependence. The ethics of responsibility requires leaders to attend to consequences of their actions (Weber, 1969).(1) Their first responsibility, however, resides in what Adam Smith called self-mastery. All virtues and personal capacity to live up to promises, obey law, and follow directives depend upon this primary moral capacity (Smith, 1976, III, 6, 3). …

John Locke’s influence on American government and public administration

John Locke, one of the most influential writers in history, profoundly affected the principles upon which the government of the United States was founded. He leaves a legacy of thoughts on human understanding, religion, economics, and politics that still influence the structure, environment, and operation of public administration today. He is most noted for his concept of separation of powers and for his ideas about property as the basis for prosperity. he moderated the more radical teachings of Thomas Hobbes and Niccolo Machiavelli. His politics, emerging from the concept of a state of nature, involved the underlying radical, modern premises about religion and morality. Locke presents his case for what we would call modern liberal democracy. He created the modern emphasis on constitutionalism that defines, in part, the relationship between the political system and the bureaucracy. Finally, he was an important link in the development of modern executive and legislative power.

Moses and Machiavellism

Le Prince de Machiavel se termine par une exhortation a prendre l'Italie et a la liberer des Barbares. Machiavel utilise des references bibliques et adopte le role de Moise en tant que narrateur. Lui-meme va essayer de devenir le liberateur de sa nation. Son exhortation ressemble a celle de Deuteronome 29 et 30. Tandis que Moise s'adresse au peuple d'Israel, Moise s'adresse a Laurent de Medicis. Dans les deux cas, on prevoit l'echec si les peuples n'arrivent pas a se liberer de leur servitude. Apres cette liberation, la nation connait enfin le bonheur economique et politique

Machiavelli's virtue

Machiavelli's virtue

Roger Williams: Pious Puritan and Strict Separationist

The church and the state are among the most powerful institu tional forces within society. As such, considerable attention has been given to deciphering a functional interaction between the two institu tions, whose interests and objectives frequently conflict. In the devel opment of Western thought, there have been a variety of arguments designed to advance the concept of institutional separation. In the fourteenth century, for instance, conciliarists such as Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275-1342) and William of Ockham (c. 1285-1349) offered what might be referred to as an ecclesiastical argument on behalf of separation lest the integrity of the church be jeopardized. By contrast, sixteenth-century Italian politician Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) promoted a secular argument of sorts in The Prince (1512) by decrying the dominant intrusion of the church, arguing that it marginalized the goal of an efficient republican government. Rationalist arguments for separation, matured in Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke (1632-1704), rooted their explanations in natural law which resulted in a contract theory of government. A more sophisticated version of the rationalist argument made by American philosopher John Rawls, a neo-Kantian, in A Theory of Justice (1971). Additionally, advocates for ratification of the United States Constitution, such as Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and James Madison (1751-1836), advanced what might be called a political argument for separation based on expediency and practical necessity. Throughout the development of separationist theo ries, no one has advanced die theological argument for separation more persuasively than Roger Williams (c. 1603-1684). Williams's argument for separation and the theological notions that inform it are the focus of this essay. Robert Torbet's standard denominational history for Baptists states that the story of Roger Williams is so well known that a bare

Machiavellian marketing: The development of corporate lobbying in the UK

Political lobbying by business has grown considerably in recent years. This paper considers its relationship with marketing communication and marketing. Niccolo Machiavelli, in “The Prince”, gives a practical treatise on how to use power and the influences upon the ruler. It is argued that the role of the political lobbyist and corporate campaigner is a modem reflection of Machiavelli's ideas. The literature on lobbying and corporate campaigning in the UK is reviewed and there is an assessment of the insights which marketing can bring to this growing area. The paper presents a working definition of corporate lobbying and campaigning, and an indication of the scale of activity in the UK. A practical research programme for marketing researchers in this significant area is outlined. Some recent cases from current research are given with an outline of some of the core reasons for the growth of “Machiavellian Marketing”.

Would You Want Machiavelli as your CEO? The Implications of Autocratic versus Empowering Leadership Styles to Innovation

The trend towards lessened hierarchy in business organizations is key to fostering the continuous innovation upon which competitiveness depends. Models of corporate leadership appropriate to this new organizational reality are not yet in place: business practitioners and scholars have questioned whether company leaders are recognizing the need to move away from traditional autocratic approaches towards styles that empower the modern knowledge worker. But what do autocratic and empowering leadership styles entail? And what do they imply to the manners in which corporations are controlled, not only by management, but by various stakeholders? Perhaps the corporate leadership of the future can learn from the past. The 15th century political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli and the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao‐tzu represent archetypes of these leadership styles. When the two are compared in light of the control methods they elicit from employees, shareholders, and the government it becomes evident that the Machiavellian style attracts the very control it attempts to shun. The goals of the Taoist leaders, in contrast, are consistent with those of stakeholders; and many of the attributes of the Taoist approach are more suited to innovative climates. Theories of organizational learning offer insight into how the transition to a more empowering style might be accomplished.

:Between Friends: Discourses of Power and Desire in the Machiavelli - Vettori Letters of 1513-1515

This study offers an extended reading of the most famous epistolary dialogue of the Renaissance, the letters exchanged from 1513 to 1515 by Niccolo Machiavelli and Francesco Vettori. John Najemy reveals the literary tensions of the correspondence, the importance of the dialogue with Vettori to Machiavelli's emergence as a political theorist, and the complex relationship between the letters and Machiavelli's major works on politics.

Was Alexander Hamilton a Machiavellian Statesman?

Many important scholars have seen significant similarities in the political thought of Alexander Hamilton and Niccolo Machiavelli, but the only two references to Machiavelli in Hamilton's papers suggest deep misgivings about the kinds of politics we now call Machiavellian. This essay attempts to clarify Hamilton's ambiguous relation to the sage Florentine by focussing on the problem of waging war effectively and remaining free at the same time in the thought of both statesmen. Although Hamilton understood at least as well as Machiavelli the necessity of dynamicvirtùin princes and civic virtue in free citizens, he sought to establish a new order of the ages, a republican empire, which would supply an effectual moral alternative to the genuine Machiavellian regimes of his day.

Hegemony and power: on the relation between Gramsci and Machiavelli

Hegemony and power: on the relation between Gramsci and Machiavelli