Machiavelli’s Political Thought

Niccolò Machiavelli (b. 1469–d. 1527) stands as one of the most famous and influential thinkers of the Western political tradition. His writings have inspired, guided, outraged, and perplexed intellectuals and politicians alike for more than half a millennium, and even in the 21st century they remain a major subject of academic controversy. Machiavelli is best known for The Prince, a slim volume that purports to teach aspiring princes how to acquire and maintain power. Although nominally a contribution to the “mirror-for-princes” genre, its subversive nature was obvious even to its earliest readers, and Machiavelli’s name has since become synonymous with the cunning, duplicity, treachery, and ruthlessness it depicts. His other major political works include the Discourses on Livy, a much longer study of Roman republicanism, the Florentine Histories, an examination of his own city’s troubled republican past, and Art of War, a dialogue that features contemporary personages, including the mercenary captain Fabrizio Colonna. Whether and how Machiavelli intended these books to form a coherent political philosophy is a matter of considerable debate; nevertheless, they all reflect Machiavelli’s attentiveness to the lessons taught by political history, known to him through classical sources such as Livy, Tacitus, and Polybius and through his own experiences as a chancellor of the Florentine Republic. The authors wish to thank Erica Buonanno and Alexander Trubowitz for their research assistance on this project.