Vince Beasley
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Machiavelli's work was never intended to be applied to republics, or democracies. It is a work which, as Machiavelli himself said only applied to principalities, or what we call dictatorships in modern times. I agree with Davies comments that Machiavelli's work can not be justified in light of "modern governmental coups," because The Prince, in an attempt to justify principalities, and instruct their leaders, is only an exercise in futility, because the only long-lasting (and legitimate) form of government is that in which powers are not based on the amoral decisions of a Prince, but on the will of the people. If the institutions of Poland and the Balkans were based on democratic principles instead of Machiavellian principles, those territories would not be so low down on the "cultural gradient" or the political gradient, in terms of their political stability as they have been historically.