Faulty Foundings and Failed Reformers in Machiavelli'sFlorentine Histories

Bibliographic Data

ID3366367
AuthorsJohn P Mccormick (0000-0001-7305-186X, University of Chicago, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume111
Issue1
Pages204-216
Publication date2017-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003055416000678
OpenAlexW2590453924
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited27

T his article argues against prevailing scholarly trends that theFlorentine Historiescontinues to delineate the ways through which Niccolò Machiavelli, inThe Princeand theDiscourses, advised potential founders or reformers to exploit, for their own benefit and that of their patria, the inevitable social conflicts between elites and the people that arise in all polities. Machiavelli demonstrates that, in particular, Giano della Bella and Michele di Lando could and should have attempted to imitate exemplary ancient founders and reformers whom he praises in previous works, especially Moses, Romulus, and Brutus. Machiavelli implicitly criticizes Giano and Michele for failing to spiritedly invigorate new laws with necessary and salutary violence; for neglecting to effectively manage the "envy" of rival peers; for not resisting the allure of "middle ways" between difficult political choices; and for failing to militarily organize or mobilize the entirety of Florence's common people

BELLA · Exploit · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

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