The Prince.

Review By Dr. Goraksha Dere, Asst. Professor, Baburaoji Gholap College, Sangvi, Pune
The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli is a powerful and insightful look into the mind of a master politician who has an uninhibited sense of honesty and bluntness that leaves the reader staggered with astonishment. Written by Machiavelli after his own political demise, the book takes a sincere and yet cynical position in construing his ideas. The book can be divided into four sections: 1) The Types of Principalities: Michiavelli lists four principalities. a) Hereditary principalities, which the ruler inherits. b) Mixed principalities, territories that are annexed to the ruler’s existing territories. 2)The Character and Behavior of the Prince: Michiavelli recommends the following character and behavior for princes: a) It is better to be miserly than generous. b) It is better to be cruel than merciful. c) It is better to break promises if keeping them would be against one’s interest. d) Princes must avoid making them hated and despised; the goodwill of the people is a better defense than any fortress.3) The Types of Armies: A prince must lay good foundation and those foundations include good laws and good armies. There cannot be good laws without good armies, and where there are good laws there must be good armies. The study of war should be a prince’s main goal, for war is a ruler’s only art. If princes become too refined to study this art they lose their state. The types of armies are: a) Mercenaries or Auxiliaries are both dangerous and unreliable, as they will maintain their interests preceding yours. b) Native troops composed of ones own citizens or subjects are by far the most desirable kind. 4)Italy’s Political Situation: Michiavelli recommends the following: a) The rulers of Italy have lost their states by ignoring the political and military principles. b) Fortune controls half of human affairs, while free will controls the rest, leaving the prince adequate freedom to act. However, the few princes are capable to adopt their actions to times. Summary: Even though politicians and rulers may have followed Machiavelli’s advice, none could afford to admit it, even today. The Prince shows the good, bad, and ugly of politics. And some of it is very ugly, Machiavellian in fact.
Let me paraphrase some of his advice, important chapters: 1) Why the kingdom of Darius, conquered by Alexander, did not rebel… after his (Alexander’s) death-Darius had no secondary princes to rise up and rebel. 2) New principalities which are acquired by the arms of others, or by fortune – These people have great difficulty retaining power. 3) Civic principality-This prince was given the job by the citizens (easy to please) or the aristocracy (difficult to please). 4) Auxiliary, mixed, and one’s own troops- asking a powerful neighbor to come and defend you with troops (called auxiliaries) is as useless as using mercenaries.5) Liberality and miserliness-A prince should be miserly with his own, or his subjects’ wealth, and liberal with others’ wealth. 6) A prince should avoid being despised and hated – A prince becomes hated by taking the property and women of his subjects. He becomes despised by appearing changeable, frivolous, effeminate, timid, and irresolute. He should show grandeur, spirit, gravity, and fortitude. Conspiracies generally fail. Hatred comes as often by good works as by evil.
The Prince seems to describe a leader that Machiavelli views as ideal, and seems to suggest that he believes he would be the perfect leader. Machiavelli’s perception may seem distorted by cynicism, especially since he was a highly important and respected official at one point and now, just as Polonius said, reduced to “be no assistant to the state, but keep a farm and carters”. No matter the circumstances The Prince was written under, it is worth the time to read for those interested in learning about human nature and political science, the psychology of a leader, and the qualities that may make a successful leader. The Prince terrified, the reader. leaves an enlightened, yet.