WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR A
SOCIETY TO PRESERVE ORDER?
Florence Italy 1520
How Machiavellian are you?
Published five years after his death The Prince by Nicollo Machiavelli is a “how
to” manual guide for leaders and their advisors. In the book Machiavelli explains his political theories for running a state. Written a hundred and fifty years
before John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government Machiavelli’s work is far
from an Enlightened document. There is no mention of natural rights n Machiavelli’s manuscript and there is precious little about freedoms and liberties, however many would say that Machiavelli’s work would be more instructive for a
leader struggling to maintain order amongst his population. Take the quiz below
to see how “Machiavellian” you would be as a leader.
Agree
Disagree
The best way for a leader to rule his people is to tell them what they want to hear
A leader should take action no matter if that action is morally correct
A good leader ignores the will of the people and does what he thinks is best
Most people are simple, easily fooled and greedy
Leaders may break promises to solve problems of the state
A leader does not need to be honest with his people
Before anything else a leader must be powerful and strong
If you must attack your enemy it must be so severe an attack that we should not fear
retribution
Anyone who completely trusts others is just asking for trouble.
It is better for a leader to be feared than it is to be loved
Add up the total number of checks you have in the “Agree” column. Then subtract the number of checks you
have in the “Disagree” column.
If your score is 5 or higher—You are pretty Machiavellian, you think like Machiavelli, in fact you may
share the same DNA
If your score is between 0 and 5 — You are somewhat Machiavellian, you can be ruthless when needed, but
only when needed.
If your score is between 0 and –5 — You’re not into Machiavelli that much. You’re careful not to give
away too much but basically you’re king
If your score is between –5 & -10 — You’re not Machiavellian at all, in fact you may be a bit of a push
over. Watch out before someone sells you a bridge!
Read the Machiavelli quotes below for each give an example of what this would mean for a leader and also hypothesize what John Locke would say bout the same topic. (at the bottom of the page is a comparison of Locke
and Machiavelli’s ideas)
Machiavelli on Promises:
Machiavelli on Doing the Right Thing:
The promise given was a necessity of the past: The fact is that a man who wants to do the right
the word broken is a necessity of the present. thing in every way necessarily comes to grief
among so many who are not virtuous.
What does this mean for a leader?
What does this mean for a leader?
What do you think John Locke would say about
promises?
What do you think John Locke would say about doing
the right thing?
Machiavelli on Advisors:
Machiavelli on “New Leaders”:
The first method for estimating the intelligence The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he
will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for
of a ruler is to look at the men he has around
all.
him.
What does this mean for a leader?
What does this mean for a leader?
What would John Locke say about advisors?
What would John Locke say about new leaders?
Machiavelli on “Good Laws”:
The main foundations of every state, new
states as well as ancient or composite ones,
are good laws and good arms you cannot have
good laws without good arms, and where there
are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.
What does this mean for a leader?
Machiavelli on the Law:
It is necessary for him who lays out a state
and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all
men are evil and that they are always going to
act according to the wickedness of their spirits
whenever they have free scope.
John Locke on the Law
The purpose of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to
preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of
created beings capable of law, where there is no law,
there is no freedom.
Would you feel safer in a state ruled by the laws of Locke or Machiavelli? Where would you rather live? Why?