Machiavelli's View On Government
Published in 1532, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince describes how a principality should be run within feudal times. Since its publication, The Prince has been criticized for some of its abstract ideas, although it is also renowned for being one of the first works of political philosophy. Throughout his book, Machiavelli describes many commitments and challenges a prince faces when he comes to power, mostly dealing with his people and government. Machiavelli’s views on government, power, and leadership often reflect a government with totalitarian control, but his ideas are not totally absurd, as some connections between his book and the United States government are apparent.
While some of Machiavelli’s viewpoints on government can be, in a …show more content…
These appointed servants act like the Cabinet of the United States, in which both parties, elected by the leader, help carry …show more content…
Machiavelli believes that a prince’s power lies within controlling his state and other countries, and the United States hold a similar belief when it comes to foreign policies, but this idea is also not the basis of how the government is run. In chapter three, page five of The Prince, Machiavelli addresses ways to hold a new principality and says that a prince “ought to make himself the head and defender of his powerful neighbours, and to weaken the more powerful amongst them, taking care that no foreigner as powerful as himself shall, by any accident, get a footing there”. Later on in chapter twenty-two, Machiavelli states that a prince should never have an ally more powerful than him. In comparison, the United States is successful from protecting itself from unwanted foreign entities and garnering allies, however there are no immediate threats to the United States like sixteenth century Italy had. Foreign and domestic policies are great concerns for the president, and over many years, problems like Iran’s nuclear weapon program, for example, have caused international strain, but never enough to support Machiavelli’s view on asserting dominance by total
While some of Machiavelli’s viewpoints on government can be, in a …show more content…
These appointed servants act like the Cabinet of the United States, in which both parties, elected by the leader, help carry …show more content…
Machiavelli believes that a prince’s power lies within controlling his state and other countries, and the United States hold a similar belief when it comes to foreign policies, but this idea is also not the basis of how the government is run. In chapter three, page five of The Prince, Machiavelli addresses ways to hold a new principality and says that a prince “ought to make himself the head and defender of his powerful neighbours, and to weaken the more powerful amongst them, taking care that no foreigner as powerful as himself shall, by any accident, get a footing there”. Later on in chapter twenty-two, Machiavelli states that a prince should never have an ally more powerful than him. In comparison, the United States is successful from protecting itself from unwanted foreign entities and garnering allies, however there are no immediate threats to the United States like sixteenth century Italy had. Foreign and domestic policies are great concerns for the president, and over many years, problems like Iran’s nuclear weapon program, for example, have caused international strain, but never enough to support Machiavelli’s view on asserting dominance by total