Machiavelli on the Qualities of a Ruler
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a practical guide to statecraft. It provides a series of advices on how to be a successful ruler and what qualities or attributes a successful ruler should possess.
According to Machiavelli, a ruler will perish if he is always good. A successful ruler should have the valour and courage of a lion and the cunningness and shrewdness of a fox. A ruler must be courageous to fight his enemies and cunning enough to detect conspiracies.
In politics, the end justifies the means. It is futile to pursue a political purpose by methods that are bound to fail. If the end is good, a ruler must choose the means adequate to its achievement.
Achieving a political goal requires power of one kind or another. Politics is essentially about getting and keeping power. A successful ruler must realise this and be able to use force and deceit judiciously to keep power. Power is for those who have the skill to seize it in a free competition.
Power depends upon opinion and opinion upon propaganda. Further, it is an advantage in propaganda to seem more virtuous than your adversaries. Victory goes to the side which has the most of what the general public considers to be virtuous, and not to the side which may be actually virtuous. It is thus desirable to present an appearance of being virtuous before the public.
In an environment where so many people are corrupt, greatness cannot be ensured by acting virtuously. Machiavelli remarks, “A man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.” A ruler should use both law and force effectively: laws are for the civilised people and force for the brutes. Force may come more handy since the individual is wretched and dishonourable.
A ruler has to be flexible in his actions. He needs to act according to circumstance and not based on a rigid moral principle. He has to be gentle or severe depending on the circumstances.
A ruler must know that individuals are extremely possessive by nature. Hence, he should abstain from the property and women of his subjects. Violating this would affect men’s sensibilities driving them to the point of resistance.
Religion can play a vital role in achieving political ends. A ruler should use religion to hold people together. It is not necessary for him to be religious but he should definitely appear as one before the general public.
Violence is a shock therapy to cure corruption and rejuvenate civic virtu. When a ruler uses violence, it should be absolute and no scope for revenge should be left. According to Wolin, by violence, Machiavelli means ‘pure’ use of power, undefiled by pride, ambition, or motives of petty revenge. However, Machiavelli warns that violence should be used cautiously and judiciously. Otherwise, it would create distrust and hostility towards the government resulting in instability.
Regarding foreign policy, Machiavelli says that war between nations can never be avoided, it can only be postponed. Thus, it is best to attack if one has the advantage, and if one is at a disadvantage, it is best to destroy others’ advantage by diplomacy. Machiavelli further suggested to make alliances strategically in a manner that will serve national interest.
Finally, Machiavelli says that it is not necessary for a ruler to possess all the above mentioned qualities, but it is very essential to seem to have them. You may not have it in you, but act as if you have it in you.
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