Discourses on Livy

Machiavelli’s most famous work is The Prince. The Prince describes the cunning and immoral methods by which a prince can acquire and maintain political power. In his view, a prince should be concerned only with power and be bound only by rules that would lead to success in political actions. Machiavelli believed that the use of political powers was only rightful if it was utilized by a ruler whose personal scrupulous character was strictly virtuous. He did not think that someone who was only…

The natural inability for a leader to simultaneously act in a morally pure manner and preside over successful governance leads Machiavelli to advise that the Prince must embody duplicity and deviousness in order to triumph. Machiavelli vehemently states that incorruptible leaders who exclusively promote righteousness leave themselves vulnerable to subversion by cunning forces, which is against the interests of the ruler and the state. Importantly, Machiavelli states that the ability for leaders…

accomplished this by investing the power in the people, creating checks and balances, and implementing separation of powers. However, the Framers did use Machiavelli’s ideas when deciding where the power should lie (Perry). Machiavelli wrote in his Discourses on Livy, “…the government which has been organized will not last long if it rests on the shoulders of one man. However, it will do so if left to the care of many, provided that preserving it is something dear to their hearts.” He argued…