The Many and the Few

On Machiavelli's “Democratic Moment

Bibliographic Data

ID6402875
AuthorsRyan Balot, Ryan K Balot (0000-0001-5900-1639, corresponding author), Stephen Trochimchuk
Year2012
Volume74
Issue4
Pages559-588
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670512000757
OpenAlexW1978486205
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited15

Through an extended critical engagement with John P. McCormick'sMachiavellian Democracy, this paper aims to shed light on Machiavelli's account of relations among the many and the few in theDiscourses on Livy. While we agree with McCormick that Machiavelli should not be too quickly subsumed within the republican tradition, as interpreted by the “Cambridge School,” we reject the idea that Machiavelli's central thrust is prodemocratic. By focusing on the structure and logic of Machiavelli's arguments, we show that Machiavelli was critical of the capacities of ordinary citizens to govern themselves. As a result, Machiavelli emphasized and endorsed continuous elite intervention in the political life of the mixed regime, even as he paid due attention to the people's participation in a political regime with appropriate laws and institutions. Machiavelli's political theory, as embodied in theDiscourses on Livy, challenges the transparency and equality that contemporary egalitarians and democrats embrace

Democracy · Elite · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Transparency (behavior · Law · Political Theory and Influence · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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