Democracy, Acquiescence, and Machiavelli’s La Mandragola

Bibliographic Data

ID6211344
AuthorsNoah Stengl (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA)
Year2024
Volume53
Issue2
Pages83-93
Publication date2024-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePerspectives on Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-7097 • E-ISSN: 1930-5478
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10457097.2024.2325328
OpenAlexW4392905945
LanguageIT
References cited18

The "democratic turn" in the scholarship on Niccolò Machiavelli has yet to consider the personal qualities or traits that sustain collective action and facilitate the plural interests of a majority. Should democratic actors adopt princely virtù, or does Machiavelli's corpus offer traits more suitable for democratic politics? This essay interprets Machiavelli's comedy, La Mandragola, to show how his characterization of the oft-neglected priest, Brother Timoteo, positions acquiescence as a uniquely democratic trait. An analysis of Timoteo's three soliloquies traces how his initial princely behavior transforms into acquiescence, and how this trait serves the interests of all characters, including Timoteo's own abiding interest in the reputation of his institution and collective action. This interpretation enriches our understanding of Machiavelli's democratic thought and challenges us to rethink the role acquiescence may play in contemporary politics

Acquiescence · Democracy · Epistemology · Linguistics · Obedience · Political science · Politics · Reputation · Scholarship · Sociology · Sophist · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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