Running Head: THE PRINCE BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI

The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli

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THE PRINCE BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI

The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli

Appearance is everything in Politics
It is vividly evident in Nicolo Machiavellis The Prince that all political discourse
depends greatly on the relationship existing between the leader, the prince in this case, and his
followers. At the time of Machiavellis birth during the early Renaissance period, Italy was under
civil discord. The threat of invasions by neighboring states of France and Spain, coupled with the
decline of the once influential Medici family and the rise to the Papacy by the corrupt Alexander
Borgia played a huge part in fueling strife within the nation. Disappointed by the situation of
civil unrest and bickering between cities in the country, Machiavelli witnessed the successful
manner in which the Borgias had seized and sustained power. He formulated his own idea of
effective governance in The Prince basing the character of the ideal prince on the Popes eldest
son, Cesare Borgia (Machiavelli, 2010).
Machiavelli believed that the end always justified the means as evident in his dictate that
the appearance of virtue significantly outweighs the importance of the virtue itself. He observed
this approach succeed in the manner by which the Borgia family conducted their governance.
According to him, a leader should be able to portray a trustworthy, kind, wise and compassionate
front despite the fact that possessing a combination of all these values in such a position of
leadership may be difficult or considered a sign of weakness. Pope Alexander excelled greatly in
doing this. His argument was further solidified by the fact that people judge their leaders solely
on appearance and their ability to deliver results (Machiavelli, 2010). Therefore, the means by
which leaders achieved their goals did not matter so long as they appeared to be virtuous and
successful in their ventures. Leaders today still operate by this principle. For instance, the RussoUkrainian ceasefire attained through the actions of Russian Leader Vladimir Putin is under threat
due to Western aggression through the ill-timed sanctions imposed on Russia. This Western

THE PRINCE BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI

subversion of the peace talks through NATO has been labeled a grand deception since Western
nations only claim to be interested in anti-war solutions.
A Prince Must Know How to Be Bad
Machiavelli famously asserted that for one to be considered a good ruler, he would at
some point have to learn to set aside moral concerns of honesty, transparency, kindness and
justice in order to ensure the stability of the nation. This idea seemed shocking to conventional
thinkers that associated leadership positions with traditional notions of nobility in leadership
bestowed upon the worthy by divine beings with the purpose of safeguarding the very virtues
that Machiavelli sought to write off. Machiavelli pointed out that the most accomplished leaders
were often those that had one point or another were willing to do whatever was necessary to keep
their positions of power and thereby indirectly maintaining the status quo in the nation
(Machiavelli, 2010).
In his argument, Machiavelli does not encourage leaders to actively or knowingly avoid
the moral path but admits that where necessary, the prince should be ready to act unethically.
Machiavelli argues that if a leader is given the option of sacrificing a small multitude of people
in order to preserve the wellbeing of a larger group, such a leader must be willing and able to
knowingly choose the unethical option and live with it. For instance, consider a case where a city
is about to be under siege by an invading army and the leader of this city is given the option of
retreating with his people to a fortress that is three days away. The people can only make it to the
fortress in time to avoid a massacre only if they leave behind the sick, disabled and pregnant
women who are not able to travel. Here, the leader should be able to sacrifice this group for the
greater good of the people in the city despite the fact that he knows that the morally correct thing
to do is to safeguard every human life under his charge.

THE PRINCE BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI

References
Machiavelli, N. (2010) The Qualities of the Prince. In Ed. Lee A. Jacobus (Ed.), A World of
Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers (8th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.