FREE ESSAY ON THE PRINCE

THE PRINCE

The Prince
Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince examines the nature of power and his views of power are
still somewhat in existence today. I'll discuss this in this essay, emphasizing the
following theses. Machiavelli discusses power over the people, dictatorial power, and
power with people, shared power. While it is possible for power with to attain greater
prevalence in society, it will not completely eliminate power over. In The Prince,
Machiavelli discusses two distinct groups of people, the political elite, including
nobles and other princes, and the general public. Today in the United States, the first
group, the political elite, includes political leaders, religious leaders, business
leaders and the leaders of strong lobbying groups. The composition of the general public
has changed little from Machiavelli's time.
Machiavelli concentrates on relations between the prince and the political elite. He
claims that ambition and dictatorial power drive most nobles and princes. A prince must
act with dictatorial power in order to maintain his position. Machiavelli assumes that
shared power will not be effective with nobles, since whether men bear affection depends
on themselves, but whether they are afraid will depend on what the ruler does
(Machiavelli, p.60-61). Since the nobles are unforgiving and greedy it would be dangerous
if not downright suicidal for a prince to rely on their good will. 
Equally important, Machiavelli states that a prince, a political leader, has different
concerns than the general public. For a prince personal actions, which would be
considered immoral or unvirtuous, may save lives or help the prince's country. In this
way a prince is not immoral, but instead acts with a morality different in nature from
the general public. Machiavelli gives several examples of this. Miserliness is considered
a fault. Yet, a miserly prince will come to be considered more generous when it is
realized that his revenues are sufficient to defend himself against enemies that attack
him, and to undertake campaigns without imposing special taxes on the people (p.56).
Likewise, starting a war is considered an immoral act by many. Yet, a prince should not
allow troubles to develop in order to avoid fighting a war for wars can not really be
avoided, but are merely postponed to the advantage of others (p.11). Avoiding war may
cause more suffering among the people than starting war. For example, many believe that
World War II could have been avoided, saving tens of millions of lives, had England and
France not pursued a policy of appeasement towards the Germans.
While Machiavelli emphasizes power over in relations between the political elite, he
discusses a different kind of power in the relations between a prince and the general
public. Machiavelli notes that a prince can share power with the people, since a prince
can trust the people much more than he can trust the nobles. Nobles can not be satisfied
if a ruler acts honorably but the people can be thus satisfies, because their aims are
more honorable than those of the nobles are: for the latter only want to oppress and the
former only want to avoid being oppressed (p.35). The people are not unforgiving and
greedy so the prince can place more trust in the people. Since the public can be trusted,
the prince can empower the people. An empowered public will protect the ruler rather than
overthrow him. Machiavelli suggests providing people with power in terms of arms, since
when you arm them, these weapons become your own (p. 72). In this way power is an
increasing resource, sharing power with the people can result in greater power for the
people and for the prince.
Finally Machiavelli notes that inherent power of the public, which exists despite the
dictatorial power that any prince exercises. When discussing fortresses, he states that
the best fortress a ruler can have is not to be hated by the people, for if you possess
fortresses and the people hate you, having fortresses will not save you (p.75).
Machiavelli does not disregard shared power as a potentially successful way to govern,
but only notes that dictatorial power can not be used exclusively in governing.
Even in relations with the general public, which can include shared power, the prince can
not act in ways that might be considered virtuous for the general citizen. People expect
leaders to act differently than themselves. Machiavelli notes that people are interested
in appearances and results. A leader must seem resolute and moral to the people, and show
positive results from his leadership. The most important thing for a leader to do is to
avoid being hated or despised by the public, which could occur if a prince took people's
property. For the public, more than the form of power, their perception of power may be
the most important for a leader to maintain his position.
As an example from today, President Clinton's unpopularity can be examined using
Machiavelli's ideas of appearances and results. In terms of appearances, Clinton is seen
as irresolute, and as a man with numerous character flaws. His oftentimes messy and
disorganized decision-making process has been widely publicized, further eroding any
appearance of strong decisive leadership. In terms of results, the ugly political process
preceding the results has overshadowed positive results like a lower deficit and improved
economy. Clinton is neither feared nor loved by his political opposition, making it
difficult for him to produce results without great struggles. The one result remembered
by many is that Clinton raised taxes, taking away their property. Thus, Clinton has had
difficulty with both appearances and results. One might say that in addition to power, a
prince in relations needs political skill with the public. For a politician weaving a
good story of one's accomplishments is more important than the accomplishments
themselves.
Machiavelli's idea of power and how it should be handles as he describes in The Prince
can still be used to examine the present. While it's possible to see only the negative
uses of power, one can also see the potential for power to promote the common good.
Machiavelli would argue that attending to the common good is in a prince's best
interests, since it gains the support of the people, something more valuable than any
fortress or other expression of power.