Machiavelli on the Populace: The Prince and the Discourses
This paper examines Machiavelli's understanding of the populace as presented in The Prince and the Discourses. It explores how Machiavelli characterizes ordinary subjects as obedient, self-interested, and inconstant, and how a prince must manage their loyalty through fear, benevolence, or force. The paper also compares the populace of Machiavelli's sixteenth-century Florence with those of ancient societies — including Rome, Athens, and Syracuse — arguing that despite historical and geographic differences, populations universally resist tyranny and seek liberty. Machiavelli's use of broad generalizations about human nature as a basis for political prescription is analyzed throughout, alongside his preference for republican government over princely rule.
- Introduction: Machiavelli's View of the Populace: Overview of Machiavelli's core assumptions about subjects
- The Prince's Relationship with the Populace: How princes rule, crush, or co-opt the people
- Fear, Loyalty, and the Limits of Benevolence: Fear versus love and popular support in sieges
- The Populace in Republican and Princely Government: Republics vs. princes and the role of law
- Ancient Societies Compared to Machiavelli's Era: Rome, Athens, and virtue-based leadership compared
- Conclusion: Tyranny, Liberty, and Human Nature: Universal drive for liberty under tyranny
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds each analytical claim directly in textual evidence, quoting chapter and page references from both The Prince and the Discourses to support its interpretations.
- It connects Machiavelli's abstract political theory to a concrete contemporary example (post-Hussein Iraq), making historical argument accessible and relevant.
- It identifies a tension within Machiavelli's own text — the apparent contradiction between Chapter 17 (fear over love) and Chapter 19 (need for popular goodwill) — demonstrating close reading skills.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative textual analysis: it reads two distinct works by the same author side by side, tracing consistencies and contradictions in Machiavelli's treatment of the populace across different genres (a political manual versus discursive commentary). This technique requires the writer to synthesize multiple sources into a coherent argument rather than summarizing each text separately.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a focused research question, then proceeds chapter-by-chapter through The Prince to establish Machiavelli's core assumptions about subjects. It pivots at the midpoint to the Discourses, using them to complicate and extend the earlier picture. The conclusion resolves the comparison by arguing that ancient and contemporary populations share the same fundamental drive toward liberty under tyranny. The structure is roughly chronological within each text, then comparative across them.
Introduction: Machiavelli's View of the Populace
This paper examines Niccolò Machiavelli's understanding of the populace as presented in The Prince and the Discourses. Two central questions guide the analysis: what makes the populace of Machiavelli's contemporary era different from that of other places and times, and how does Machiavelli compare his own era's populace with those of past societies and republics?
Machiavelli states in The Prince, Chapter Three, that when dealing with the public it is better to either caress or crush them, because if only minor damage is done they will seek revenge. However, as Machiavelli puts it, "if you cripple them there is nothing they can do" (pp. 9–10). In his view, a prince may take one of two directions in ruling his people: he can act out of benevolence or out of ruthlessness. When the prince chooses ruthlessness, Machiavelli argues he must ensure that the populace is sufficiently crushed so that no potential for revolution remains.
The prince, from Machiavelli's perspective, should seek first and foremost to preserve himself. In Chapter Five, Machiavelli writes that a leader who takes power over a city accustomed to living under its own laws — and who fails to bring the populace to heel — will himself be brought to heel by that populace. When such a city rebels, great strength is found in the talk of liberty, and its citizens will desire to return to their ancient form of rule. As Machiavelli writes: "Neither the passage of time nor good treatment will make its citizens forget their previous liberty. No matter what one does…if one does not scatter and drive away the original inhabitants, one will not destroy the memory of liberty or the attraction of old institutions. As soon as there is a crisis they will seek to restore them" (p. 17).
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