Machiavelli's Princes

Throughout Machiavelli’s analysis of the princes in The Prince and The Discourses, his criterion for success is founded on the idea of balance between a number of elements (both at the individual and system level), mobilization of resources for success and adaptation to the constantly changing environment. In terms of the prince’s qualities Machiavelli aspires to the creation of order and evaluates the success of the prince on his ability to balance: virtue and vice, shame and glory, opportunity and necessity, love and fear, cruelty and compassion, generosity and misery, cunning and integrity and to balance the satisfaction of his populace and soldiers. Maintaining a balance in these various principles ensures that the ruler develop strength in his reputation and build a foundation for long lasting power. Due to the fact that the “affairs of the world are governed by fortune and God” , with fortune determining half of life’s outcomes, and individual action controlling the ...