Machiavelli's Purpose Of Government Summary

The Purpose of Government and if It Fails Machiavelli thinks that the most important feature of the government is to provide prosperity and stability, while Locke thinks it is the preservation of the property and the property rights, which go beyond the protection of the physical properties. Both men start from the same assumption that the government is able to provide its people with a possibility of coexistence and mutual respect for the future. Both men agree that, although coming from different angle, a government has a purpose, and if it fails to uphold the purpose, the subjects or the people can reconstitute the government.
Machiavelli theorizes that the people in the state of nature (he thinks it as an individualistic setting "like …show more content…
Machiavelli thinks that one of the legitimate qualities as a leader is having a blood ties to the former leaders, and if a leader is chosen by such quality, then the union turns into a monarchy. However, the monarchy can be quickly turned into a tyranny, if the newly elected leader is less of the quality than the previous leader. Then the people of the higher class would end the tyranny, and the constitution would be just again under the lead of the aristocrats. But, as it did with the monarchy, the sons of the aristocrats may result in the constitutional change to the oligarchy. If then so, the populous would rise and constitute a popular government; however, it is destined to turn into anarchy (89-90). This is the cycle that Machiavelli proposes, under the assumption that the people would seek the self-interest and degenerate under any pure constitution; therefore, he proposes the mix of the constitutions, to provide a setting in which every part of the society partakes in the making of politics, so that the clash between the people creates less chances of corruption and constitutional …show more content…
Machiavelli begins with more protectionist view of the congregation, in that the people did not need laws before they felt the need, which shows to prove that the people living in the Machiavelli’s idea of state of nature wished for physical protections first, rather than legal protections over their properties. In contrast, Locke theorizes that the people voluntarily decided to gather to establish a contract between the sovereignty and the people, so that the property rights can be protected. The aim of the government is explicitly stated, and the establishment of the legislative branch being concurrent to the establishment of the executive body implicitly point to the motivation of the social cohesion. However, it is arguable that Machiavellian rationale for the institution of a republican government gradually evolves into the one that is alike to the Lockean rationale for sovereignty, in that the legislation of the constitution is due to the societal pressure to punish those who may harm the others. The mutual agreement for a need of the legislation can be practically identical to consenting to an establishment for civil