21. Machiavelli, The Prince

This and the following lecture deal directly with a careful reading of the text of The Prince, examining his theory’s relevance for his time and more universally. Machiavelli’s concern with coping, adaptation, and the realities of the human condition make him the first of the modern political philosophers. Americans may like Machiavelli for his focus on technique and practicality. Governing a society at its peak of civic virtue is not difficult, becomes a matter of sustaining momentum. But Machiavelli offers a detailed approach for governing when all is not going well. Virtu’ for Machiavelli involves meeting Fortune well. He suggests a ruler may have to sacrifice his morality for the sake of his society, in certain circumstances.

In the first section of the text, Machiavelli’s advice about how to conquer and then rule a country could be seen as relevant advice for any leader brought in to an organization from outside. He starts with this most difficult case deliberately, Anderson asserts, so he can provide his definition—politics and leadership are all about constructing and maintaining effective authority. In comparison and contrast with Florence in Machiavelli’s time, Anderson assesses the highly unstable time of the American 1960’s: assassinations of political leaders (the Kennedys) and reformer Martin Luther King, Jr., student protests over the Vietnam War, civil rights marches and riots in large cities, the resignation of Nixon and discusses why we did not have a military coup to restore order and stability.