Designing a Country: What Citizens Really Need

1. Warmup • One of the things any leader and their followers have to decide is what’s important to them. Imagine that you could design your own country. • What would you want most for your citizens? What would they really need? • Using the list below, create a list of the things that you think a country really needs. You may also add your own ideas.

2. Who was Machiavelli? • Pronounced mahk-yah-VEL-lee • He was an Italian author and statesman. • He believed a ruler must be motivated solely by self-interest and must place the survival of his regime above all other considerations. • He developed his theories based on humanist ideals. • The Prince is a book written by Machiavelli based on his political philosophy. • He is considered a Renaissance Man.

3. Lived in Italy from 1469-1527. • His father was a lawyer and wanted his son to be successful. He made sure he received a great education. He could speak several languages. • He worked with the government and helped run the army. • Because he spent so much time helping people run the country, a lot of his philosophy was about being a good leader. • He believed good leaders sometimes had to get tough with people and make strict rules. • He believed being tough was the only way people behaved. • He believed that in order for others to follow rules, a leader should be on their best behavior as well.

4. Machiavelli “Machiaelli and the Prince” (United St. – 5 mins.)

5. What is “The Prince”? • It is Machiavelli’s most famous work (1532; trans. 1640). • He describes the method by which a prince can acquire and maintain political power. • He believed that a ruler is not bound by traditional ethical norms. In his view, a prince should be concerned only with power and be bound only by rules that would lead to success in political actions. • Machiavelli believed that these rules could be discovered by deduction from the political practices of the time, as well as from those of earlier periods. • “The Prince” continues to raise important ethical issues about government and the proper uses of power in the world.

6. “The Prince”

9. Main Ideas of “The Prince” • Machiavelli’s main ideas can be divided into three categories: • Types of Armies • The character and behavior of the Prince • Italy’s Political Situation

10. Types of Armies • Mercenaries or hired soldiers, which are dangerous and unreliable • Auxiliaries, troops that are loaned to you by other rulers—also dangerous and unreliable • Native troops, composed of one's own citizens or subjects—by far the most desirable kind • Mixed troops, a combination of native troops and mercenaries or auxiliaries—still less desirable than a completely native army

11. The Character and Behavior of the Prince • It is better to be stingy than generous. • It is better to be cruel than merciful. • It is better to break promises if keeping them would be against one's interests. • Princes must avoid making themselves hated and despised; the goodwill of the people is a better defense than any fortress. • Princes should undertake great projects to enhance their reputation. • Princes should choose wise advisors and avoid flatterers.

12. Italy’s Political Situation • The rulers of Italy have lost their states by ignoring the political and military principles of Machiavelli. • Fortune controls half of human affairs, but free will controls the rest, leaving the prince free to act. However, few princes can adapt their actions to the times. • The final chapter is his recommendation to the Medici family to follow Machiavelli's principles and thereby free Italy from foreign domination. “The Politics of the Prince” (5 mins. – United St.) https://app.discoveryeducation.com/search?Ntt=machiavelli+and+the+prince