Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, first published in 1532, is certainly the most shocking book ever written about political leadership. No current politician in his or her right mind would ever confess to the black arts Machiavelli so coolly endorses. Heaven forbid! He endures, however, because his work still contains the sting of truth. Machiavelli's great message through the ages is that a politician must be a moral realist. The way we actually live, Machiavelli says, is so far from how we ought to live that anyone who tries to live by ideals of virtue is bound to be destroyed. Any politician wishing to hold his own must "know how to do wrong and to make use of it or not according to necessity."
Notice that Machiavelli says a politician must know how to do wrong, not necessarily do wrong. A politician need not do wrong himself, but he should never forget, Machiavelli says, "that all men are bad." Make pessimistic assumptions, he argues, and you are less likely to be disappointed. Never trust too far in politics. Keep promises with other politicians, Machiavelli warns, only so long as they keep their promises to you. After that, all bets should be off. If you can't be loved, he warns, be sure that you are feared and respected. A politician must be "like a fox to recognize traps," and resolute like "a lion to frighten wolves."
The Prince is an essay on the uses of guile and deceit. "No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution." If you must harm a rival, he advises, make sure that you destroy him, lest you leave him strong enough to wreak revenge.
Machiavelli's realism is shocking, but it is not the same thing as cynicism. He is fully aware that in politics, as in life, appealing to the best in people and setting a noble example will succeed more often than knavery. The prince, he writes, "should endeavour to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity and fortitude." It is better to bind supporters to you through "greatness and nobility of soul" than through bribery and hope of reward. Machiavelli adds, in a characteristic aside, that if you do not actually possess fine moral qualities, then it is "necessary to appear to have them."
For Machiavelli, politics is theatre: The appearance of sincerity, nobility and truthfulness will serve you if you do not possess the real thing. "Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are."
A leader must take care to entrust to his subordinates all the dirty work of politics, so that his own reputation remains unsullied. A prince should leave "matters of reproach" to subordinates, claiming "matters of grace" to himself.
The Prince is more than a guide to the guileful. It is also a wise and ironic essay in praise of human prudence: "Never let any government imagine that it can choose perfectly safe courses; rather let it expect to have to take very doubtful ones, because it is found in ordinary affairs that one never seeks to avoid one trouble without running into another; but prudence consists in knowing how to distinguish the character of troubles and for choice to take the lesser evil."
No one who has been in politics can reread The Prince without a wince of recognition and an occasional knowing smile. Machiavelli remains our contemporary. He entered the diplomatic and political service of the republic of Florence at the age of 24. He saw politics at its most venal and conspiratorial for 18 turbulent years, a period when Italy was convulsed by foreign invasions, coups and political murders. He fell from grace at 42 and underwent imprisonment and torture before making his escape to his estate, where he wrote The Prince.
The book was a futile attempt to ingratiate himself with the new ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici. We can all be grateful that he failed to make a comeback. Those who fail in politics% sometimes live longer in the memory of posterity than those who succeed.
Michael Ignatieff is Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. His many books include Blood and Belonging, Isaiah Berlin: A Life and several novels.
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