Should we (re)read Machiavelli to save democracies? Yes

Donald Trump sought to remain in power at the end of his term. He said he would only behave like a dictator “on day one” if re-elected. His cunning and ability to reshape U.S. politics and the justice system in his image has allowed him, until now, to avoid accountability for his actions. Donald Trump’s shenanigans have often been called “Machiavellian,” according to Nicolas Machiavelli, the Renaissance writer who lived between 1469 and 1527. In his famous treatise, The Princehe advises monarchs (authoritarian rulers or dictators) as well as those who aspire to rule alone to use force and fraud to gain and maintain power.

But Machiavelli specialists, of which I am one, know that his analysis is much more nuanced. His writings dating from the 16th^e century deal not only with the rule of princes, but also with republican governments, where citizens directly or indirectly elect their leaders for mandates whose duration is clearly defined. He recommends that citizens and Republican leaders – including, today, those of the United States – be aware of the vulnerability of democratic governments and remain vigilant against the sirens of tyranny. Advice as relevant today as it was then.

Machiavelli’s republican experience

Machiavelli knew from experience and his extensive reading that the republican governments of many nations have been victims of ambitious individuals who sought to subvert practices and institutions in order to govern alone, without having to be accountable to anyone, and to subjugate all others to their authority.

He was from the Florentine Republic, in what is now Italy. Florence had been republican for centuries but, around thirty years before Machiavelli’s birth, Cosimo de’ Medici, a banker and politician, subverted this system by using his family fortune to gain power, dominate civil servants and exercise power. ultimate decision.

His descendants inherited his power but briefly lost their hold, just enough for Machiavelli to contribute for a decade, as a civil servant and diplomat, to the restoration of the Republic. He was still in office when the Republic ended with the return to power of the Medici.

Dismissed from office, he wrote The Princewhich he prefaced with a dedicatory letter addressed to the young Medici, whom his family had designated as sovereign. Commentators have long wondered what Machiavelli was seeking by bowing down so ostentatiously in the face of an autocrat.

THE Speechthe republican work of Machiavelli

This enigma is all the more confusing since Machiavelli also expressed his commitment to the Republic. He wrote another book, less known and much less concise than The Princetitled Discourse on the first decade of Livyin which the work of the ancient Roman historian allows him to analyze how the Roman Republic was overthrown by an autocrat.

At its founding, Rome was a kingdom, but when subsequent rulers behaved like tyrants, the people overthrew the monarchy and established a Republic, whose remarkable history lasted nearly 500 years.

The Roman Republic ended in 44 BC. BC, when Julius Caesar was appointed dictator for life. Machiavelli wrote that the emperor was the first tyrant of Rome, the one who put an end to the freedom of its citizens.

Julius’ immediate successor, Octavius, who took the name Caesar Augustus, was the first in a long line of emperors.

Lessons from the disappearance of the Roman Republic

The main lesson of this historical study is the following: the Republic is fragile; it requires constant vigilance on the part of citizens and their leaders.

This vigilance is, however, difficult to maintain. Over the generations, they show complacency in the face of the main internal threat: they fail to identify early enough the anti-republican intentions of exceptionally ambitious citizens who harbor the desire to govern alone.

Machiavelli provides instructive examples of how Rome failed to protect its practices and laws from this danger. In the early years of the Republic, it authorized candidates to award themselves high positions. This practice was then effective, because only the most deserving applied. Later, however, it allowed the accession to power of those who wanted to profit from their popularity rather than provide for the needs of their country.

Machiavelli believed that leaders and citizens devoted to the Republic should have prevented these candidates from taking advantage of what is today called an elevator to power. But Rome showed passivity and complacency, which allowed Caesar to rely on the popularity of his predecessors to impose his tyranny.

The point of no return

If Republican citizens and leaders are not vigilant, they will eventually be faced with a leader supported by extremely large and threatening supporters. By then, Machiavelli says, it will be too late to save the republic.

He cites the examples of the assassination of Caesar, in Rome, and the exile of Cosimo, in Florence, to illustrate his point. In each case, the supporters of the Republic, finally perceiving the danger of tyranny, attacked the idol of the people. Each time, their efforts, far from leading to a restoration of republican freedom, contributed to its eradication.

In Rome, Augustus used the people’s sympathy and devotion to the martyred Caesar to seal the Republic’s demise. In Florence, Cosimo, returning from exile, was acclaimed and became the strong man of Florence.

The fate of the American Republic

For Americans, the question is whether, because of citizen complacency, the Republic will die out. Will it fall victim to the same dangers that Machiavelli identified in ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence?

It is still possible to breathe new life into American republican practices and institutions; there is still time to reject, in the upcoming election, those who only seek to be elected to strengthen their own power.

Unless it’s so late that even this method proves ineffective. The Americans will then be reduced to mourning their Republic, and to demonstrating the idea, dear to Machiavelli, according to which these regimes fall through excess of complacency. For one of the most remarkable Republics in history, this result would be a tragic demonstration of Machiavelli’s political acumen.

About the author: Vickie B. Sullivan. Professor of Political Science, Tufts University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.