How to Choose a Leader: Machiavelli's Advice to Citizens
()
About this ebook
Twenty essential tips for picking great leaders from the father of modern politics
One of the greatest political advisers of all time, Niccolò Machiavelli thought long and hard about how citizens could identify great leaders—ones capable of defending and enhancing the liberty, honor, and prosperity of their countries. Drawing on the full range of the Florentine's writings, acclaimed Machiavelli biographer Maurizio Viroli gathers and interprets Machiavelli's timeless wisdom about choosing leaders. The brief and engaging result is a new kind of Prince—one addressed to citizens rather than rulers and designed to make you a better voter.
Demolishing popular misconceptions that Machiavelli is a cynical realist, the book shows that he believes republics can't survive, let alone thrive, without leaders who are virtuous as well as effective. Among much other valuable advice, Machiavelli says that voters should pick leaders who put the common good above narrower interests and who make fighting corruption a priority, and he explains why the best way to recognize true leaders is to carefully examine their past actions and words. On display throughout are the special insights that Machiavelli gained from long, direct knowledge of real political life, the study of history, and reflection on the political thinkers of antiquity.
Recognizing the difference between great and mediocre political leaders is difficult but not at all impossible—with Machiavelli's help. So do your country a favor. Read this book, then vote like Machiavelli would.
Maurizio Viroli
Maurizio Viroli is professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University, professor of government at the University of Texas, Austin, and professor of political communication at the University of Italian Switzerland in Lugano. His many books include Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli (Hill & Wang) and Redeeming "The Prince": The Meaning of Machiavelli's Masterpiece (Princeton).
Read more from Maurizio Viroli
Machiavelli's God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedeeming The Prince: The Meaning of Machiavelli's Masterpiece Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAs If God Existed: Religion and Liberty in the History of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Liberty of Servants: Berlusconi's Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to How to Choose a Leader
Related ebooks
Machiavelli on Liberty and Conflict Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Stuart Mill on Tyranny and Liberty: Wisdom from a Founder of Modern Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Democracy's Think Tank: The Institute for Policy Studies and Progressive Foreign Policy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom or Equality: The Key to Prosperity Through Social Capitalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLogics of War: Explanations for Limited and Unlimited Conflicts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChinese Economic Statecraft: Commercial Actors, Grand Strategy, and State Control Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Edward N. Luttwak's Coup d'État Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerspective Agents: A Human Guide to the Autonomous Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorthern Light: Lessons for America from Canada's Fiscal Fix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMachiavelli's Ethics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strategic Investment: Real Options and Games Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArguing about Alliances: The Art of Agreement in Military-Pact Negotiations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMachiavelli, Leonardo, and the Science of Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding New Ideas in Old Ones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beginnings of Behavioral Economics: Katona, Simon, and Leibenstein's X-Efficiency Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeading Collaborative Organizations: Insights into Guiding Horizontal Organizations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRational Investing: The Subtleties of Asset Management Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsToo Much Invested to Quit: Pergamon General Psychology Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change, 1510-2010 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Governance Gone Bad: How Nordic Adaptability Leads to Excess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe End of Grand Strategy: US Maritime Operations in the Twenty-First Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Fights for Reputation: The Psychology of Leaders in International Conflict Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA United Nations Renaissance: What the UN is, and what it could be Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChaos - The Essence of Time and Money Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Politics For You
The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the U.S.-Israeli War on the Palestinians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchist Cookbook Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Closing of the American Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for How to Choose a Leader
0 ratings0 reviews