Politics according to Machiavelli

In view of the present world situation, it may be a good idea to pay attention to Machiavelli’s famous book The Prince. Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, philosopher and political scientist. He wrote The Prince as a kind of guide for the princes of his time. Although there are hardly any ruling princes anymore in the present world, I think that this “guide” still gives insight into how politics works. Many commentators consider the idea that immoral acts are sometimes necessary to achieve political glory as one of the main themes of The Prince. And indeed, my feeling is that many political leaders in the present world are guided by the idea to get glory for themselves; if necessary at all costs. Probably, The Prince was already being written in 1513, but it hasn’t been published before 1532, after Machiavelli's death. I bought my copy of the book 40 years ago, read it then, and put it in my bookcase. It stayed there until a few days ago when I took it from its place and began to read interesting passages. The time was too short to read it completely for this blog, but fortunately, the chapters stand more or less on their own. Here are some quotations and comments.
Judging from the contents of The Prince, the first part of the book is about princedoms as such, though certainly not exclusively, while the second part discusses the desired character and behaviour of the prince. The tendency of the whole book is about what the ruler should do to achieve glory. The idea behind the book seems to be that glory is important in life. Anyway for the ruler it is; glory in the present and after his death. That it is allowed to seek this glory at all costs becomes especially clear in chapter 18: “A ruler and his promises”. Machiavelli tells us here that “there are two ways of doing battle: using the law and using force. Typically, humans use laws and animals force. But since playing by the law often proves inadequate, it makes sense to resort to force as well. Hence a ruler must be able to exploit both the man and the beast in himself to the full.” (p. 69) The latter can be done in two ways: by behaving like a fox or like a lion. The lion uses violence and the fox is smart and achieves its purposes through cunning and guile. In other words, so Machiavelli, “a sensible leader cannot and must not keep his word if by doing so he puts the prince himself at risk, and if the reasons that made him give his word in the first place are no longer valid.” The others deceive you, so it’s not a problem to deceive them. “Anyway, a ruler will never be short of good reasons to explain away a broken promise.” If it is useful to you, don’t keep your word. “Those best at playing the fox have done better than the others. But you have to know how to disguise your slyness, how to pretend one thing and cover up another. People are so gullible and so caught up with immediate concerns that a con man will always find someone ready to be conned.” (70)
However, a prince must keep up the appearance that he is a virtuous person, though he must not behave too much like a virtuous person. “[I]f he had those qualities and observed them all the time, he’d be putting himself at risk. It’s seeming to be virtuous that helps... And you can even be [virtuous], so long as you’re always mentally prepared to change as soon as your interests are threatened.” In the end nobody cares if a ruler has used cunning means, once he has won, for “people look at the end result. So if a leader does what it takes to win power and keep it, his methods will always be reckoned honourable and widely praised. The crowd is won over by appearances and final results.” Cunning and guile are praised if you win.
So, a ruler will fail if he wants to be honest and hesitates to deceive. According to Machiavelli, there is also another big mistake a ruler can commit, as he explains in chapter 23: Being open to flattery.
When you are at the top, many people around you will overload you with advice, not for helping you but for their own advantage. Such people will tell you things and give you advice, not because it is correct and useful, but because you’ll like what they say. If you accept what these people tell you, you’ll make mistakes. If you ignore them “you run the risk of having people despise you.” (93)
What to do against it? “[T]he only way to guard against flattery”, so Machiavelli, “is to have people understand that you don’t mind them telling you the truth. But when anyone and everyone can tell you the truth, you lose respect.” Therefore, he says, “the sensible ruler must find a middle way, choosing intelligent men for ministers and giving them and only them the right to tell him the truth, and only on the issues he asks about, not in general. … [Moreover], he should make it clear that the more openly they speak, the more welcome their advice will be. After which, he shouldn’t take advice from anyone else…” (93) After the consultation it is the ruler himself who takes the decisions, and he must stand firm on them. That a ruler sticks to his decisions once taken, is important: “Try a different approach and you’ll either be ruined by flatterers or change your mind so often listening to everyone’s opinions that people will lose their respect for you”, so Machiavelli. (93-94) It’s not difficult to find such rulers, but, as we have seen, if you are whimsy, everyone will come to you, and try to manipulate you by buttering you up. Though you may think that it will bring you greatness, finally it will undermine your glory and bring you down.