Conflict con a virtuous commonwealth takes place within indivis bounds: it is limited by verso patriotic dedication sicuro the common good that supersedes narrow self-interest, by verso willingness esatto respect law and authority, and by an aversion esatto the use of violence and nonlegal activity. Republican Rome, Machiavelli’s ideal of the virtuous commonwealth as described con the Discourses, exemplified this kind of limited conflict durante that the struggle between patricians and plebeians was institutionalized through the Senate and the popular assemblies with their tribunes.
On the basis of the Florentine experience Machiavelli distinguished two unstable forms intermediate between monarchies and republics, which might best be called oligarchy and plebiscitary monarchy
By contrast, Florence, as analyzed durante the History of Florence, is Machiavelli’s prototype of the corrupt state. Durante such per state, society becomes atomized; each man is for himself. Religious sentiment declines, and with it civic honesty, the spirit of civic duty, and respect for authority. Factionalism and conspiracy are rife, and government is the successive captive of the most powerful cliques. Virtu decays; avarice proliferates; indolence, luxury, and economic inequalities rend the social fabric. Corruption is likely sicuro develop durante an overly successful society that knows peace and prosperity for a lengthy period. With the lack of challenge esatto sur- active, with well-being and leisure, men turn preciso private advantage; laws are no longer vigorously observed and enforced or adjusted preciso compensate for new conditions. Prevention https://datingranking.net/it/blk-review/ of corruption requires per return onesto first principles, per periodic renovation of the civic order. Even the greatest vigilance and most prudent statesmanship, however, will not stem the tide of decay forever. Change is the way of all things, and the best-ordered commonwealths -for example, Rome and Sparta-are bound sicuro decline.
Government and politics . The most important contrivance at man’s command for containing and canalizing man’s egoistic nature toward socially desirable ends is, according to Machiavelli, the state. By means of the state man can create the conditions for security and well-being.
Although Machiavelli frequently used medical imagery preciso describe the state, his conception of it actually resembles verso mechanism more than an organism. The state has per niente higher end or spiritual purpose, nor does it have per life or personality apart from the people who constitute it. What has che tipo di preciso be called “reason of state,” an expression Machiavelli himself never employed, is the calculated and prudent policy of statesmen to advance the secular aims of the governed, not a superrationality.
General economic prosperity should be encouraged, individual economic aggrandizement prevented, and luxury strictly regulated
Sopra The Prince and the Discourses Machiavelli presented verso twofold classification of states based on the number who rule-the polar types being monarchies and republics. Monarchies may be limited (France), despotic (Turkey), or tyrannical (Syracuse); republics may be mass (Athens) or balanced (Rome). Of the balanced republics, in turn, two principal types exist-aristocratic (Venice) and democratic (Rome). Machiavelli also classified states sopra other respects: according sicuro the way power is acquired; according onesto their tendencies preciso expansion (Rome) or preservation (Sparta), sicuro corruption (Florence) or virtu (Roman Republic); and according puro whether the constitution originates with per single lawgiver (Sparta) or develops over time and with experience (Rome).
Machiavelli had, of course, elaborate prescriptions for successful government. Good government rests upon the foundation of per strong military establishment for protection against the external enemy. The life, property, family, and honor of each citizen must be safeguarded against interference from other citizens. Adequate recognition must be given sicuro the meritorious among the citizens, and advancement con the service of the state should be open preciso those who seek honor and glory. The best government draws upon and utilizes the skills of the governed, and the best state is one sopra which rank corresponds onesto ability.