To Machiavelli, the state is an amoral entity, a force without no inherent purpose, and whose direction is always imposed by the ruler. Different from Aristotle, whose beliefs led him to think about the education of the citizens as a means to maintain the spirit of the polity, Machiavelli regarded the citizens as inert beings, completely divorcing the politics of the State from the ethics of the people. If the State is no longer an instrument for achieving the good life, then what is the State for? Even though Machiavelli had the Monarchy in mind when he wrote The Prince, the question that arises after reading his book is possible the same question that has being raised by several anti-government movements today, in our democratic world.
The bitter conclusion that the state, the nation-state as well as any other, is not an inherently beneficent entity, but a dynamic, expansive and aggressive force with no ethical principle, also calls into question the belief of the state as the guardian of the sovereign rights of its people. Nowhere in The prince is there any limitations placed upon the power of the state, no regard for human rights or equity. The core of the state, according to Machiavelli, is power. However, persuasion is much needed for a ruler, and Machiavelli attributes this not to learned or earned authority, but to the appearance of strength, rendering power visible to the subjects. The appearance of strength should not only be the main concern for the prince, as it also should be his political strategy. Appearance, Machiavelli suggests, trumps reality.
As Machiavelli explains “love is helped by a chain of obligation which, men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose; but fear is maintained by a dread of punishment which never fails” (69). The proposition that the power of the prince is maximized through fear rather than love highlights the importance of affection in the political process, since fear, for Machiavelli, can be generated, as opposed to love which is guarded by Machiavelli as an internal feeling. According to the author, fear ultimately results in more control, maximizing the power of the prince. No wonder why his work was so important to fascists rulers around the world, from Stalin to Mussolini…