Machiavelli: Two Theories

Niccolo Machiavelli wrote two significantly different treatises focused on the state and the role of leaders. In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli presented theoretical as well as historical support for the maintenance of a republic, a type of government that was largely based upon the Roman Republic and which called for what can be characterized as "Renovation" of the Florentine city-state to more closely resemble the ancient Roman model. Conversely, in The Prince, Machiavelli set out to identify the characteristics of leaders in principalities, a monarchial system in which a strong central leader was in control and which could be regarded as representative of innovation.

In Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli (1, 1) argues that the Roman Republic was the original model for organizing a political unit. He suggests that this was the original model on which the Italian city-states of his era were organized, but notes that in his era, the emergence of a "prince" or monarch was becoming more and more commonplace. Machiavelli (1, 3), made the following statement regarding the history of the Florentine Republic, which has experi

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Category: Government - M