University of Western Ontario

The Fight to Power, Niccol Machiavelli and Justifying the Means

Kyle Blaser
Introduction to Political Theory 2237E 570 FW15
Dr. Grant
Tuesday December 8th 2015

Niccol Machiavelli is an Italian theorist born 1469, and died 1527. His book The Prince
(1513) is a book that highlights ideas on political theory, ranging from gaining and maintaining
power, and the use of fear and violence. It is clear that a modern example of Machiavellis theory
is Donald Trump, however there are some lessons that Trump could gain from understanding
Machiavellis theories. In analyzing the academic scholarship of Viroli, Tarlton, and Margulies, it
is clear that there are alternating opinions on Donald Trump, but of is clearthat his techniques
of gaining power are very effective. Through an analysis of power, violence, and the ways in
which Donald Trump utilizes these things to both gain and maintains his stature in American
politics, it is clear that both Machiavelli and Trump believe that the ends justify the means.
Machiavellis book covers ideas on how princes may maintain or even increase their
power over the people they rule. Machiavelli believes that power is the key to success for a
leader or a politician. The way power is achieved and maintained according to Machiavelli is a
complex discussion. Power is something that can be gained and maintained. Power is something
that you can manipulate and control, and so, good leaders do not come by mistake. Machiavells
ideas are essential to success in politics. The ideal prince is someone that is feared and loved,
however, this is hard to both achieve and maintain. As Machiavelli states A prince must
nevertheless make himself feared in such a manner that he will avoid hatred, even if he does not
acquire love. (Machiavelli, 339) The people of a society are both the greatest power and greatest
threat to a government. The role of the leader has a importance on both the function and the
maintenance of a society. The leader in question is viewed by their subjects very critically. As
Machiavelli states, the priority of the knowledge of reality over political imagination rests on
the indisputable fact that human beings judge political matters by looking at leaders. What this
says about the role of the leader is that the individuals in the society must respect and accept him

as their leader. The people in society can either allow one to become a great leader or crush
everything that they have worked for. Obedience of the population is critical to a leaders
success. Machiavelli believes that it is better to be feared than to be loved. If a leader is feared,
people are far less likely to cross them as doing so would result in punishmentsomething that
Machiavelli highlights as necessary in maintaining power, however, violence towards the
population should be done minimally in order to maintain control, but not create hate. On the
other hand the leader can be loved. There are repercussions in being loved as a leader because,
generally speaking, fear generated more respect and obedience. The problem with being loved is
that, in tough times, the people of society will consider disobeying the rules because the ruler
does not instill an adequate amount of fear into them. Being loved works when a society is at an
equilibrium, however once things get tough, the public will turn against their leader.
Along with this, however, a leader must be careful because punishments that are too
frequent or too harsh may cause the public to hate them. According to Machiavelli, not being
hated is critical. If the public dislikes their leader, then they will not have respect for them. A
population that has no respect for their leader may rebel, or may also eliminate the leader
altogether. Machiavelli recognizes that a leader has to make difficult decisions, however these
decisions are crucial in order to maintain power. As Machiavelli points out in The Prince, an
effective leader is someone who is respected. Politicians are often regarded as individuals who
must be trustworthy, honest, and accountable. This opposes Machiavellis ideas, however,
because he suggests that individuals in positions of power should learn how to break the norms
that define a good person. A good leader that is also a good person is going to see their own
downfall. Machiavelli does argue that a good leader who is also a good person is possible,
however, it is only possible in an imaginary world. In the real world, a good leader is going to

be in competition with the populationnot an ideal situation if power is to be maintained.

Instead, the leader aims to protect their interests, and they always have a way to maintain public
happiness and unity. If something is to go wrong, Machiavelli suggests that the leader can place
the blame on an individual in society, rather than taking the blame themselves. Machiavelli
suggests that the person in power is not accountable for any wrong-doings of a society, and that
anything that goes wrong in a society, is at the hands of its inhabitants. Leaders should do what
they must in order to maintain political control. A recurring claim throughout history regarding
political leaders is that they make promises, and do not execute them. Machiavelli argues that a
good leader does not have to keep their promises, and that a leader must do anything necessary to
gain and maintain power: the ends justify the meanseven if this requires lying to a population.
A good leader should only appear to have qualities of a trustworthy, honest, and accountable
personthey do not need to execute these traits. Good leaders can defend and honor the state by
making the right decisions, and to Machiavelli, the right decisions are sometimes immoral and
can oppose to the ideas that a society might deem right. He states that, the ends justify the
means; suggesting that no matter the immorality of an actionwhether violence or cruelty,
as long as the outcome is positive and helps the population, any steps taken gain achieve a
certain position are worth it. Machiavelli believes that moral concepts do not apply to political
actions. However, the general public misinterprets his work and focuses on the fact that he is
willing to use violence in order to achieve certain political outcomes. Machiavelli does not
always resort to violence, but it is definitely within his capacity as something to consider.
Violence, deception and other immoral ways was something that Machiavelli believes to
be useful. These acts can be justified by creating necessity or acting on necessity. President
George W. Bush in January 2003 did exactly this when he declared the invasion of Iraq. During

his speech he used the phrase, Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will
defend the freedom and security of the American people (Bush, 2003). Machiavellian styles of
political action are present in many modern governments. Cesare Borgias case is an classic
example of violence and deception It displays how violence can be used to benefit political
power, and Machiavelli believes that he is an example of how a ruler should behave. Borgia uses
something that Machiavelli describes as Vitr: the drive that pushes people to achieve goals. This
quality is important for people, specifically leaders, to possess. Having Vitr will allow rulers to
achieve success by doing whatever must be done. Fortune ios another term highlighted by
Machiavelli that is defined as situations that humans cannot control. Vitr, on the other hand,
applies to the usage of free will to gain control of a situation. The use of vitr is something that
Borgia does very well. Borgia gains control of an entire nation and causes the population to fear
him. These are actions that Machiavelli believes to be vital for someone that stumbles upon
power. Borgia was lucky to gain any control at all; his land was given to him by his father at a
young age. Rulers that come to power by luck typically do not last very long as they do not know
how to maintain it. However Borgia does maintain his power through clever use of violence and
deception, therefore his power increases. Borgia kills anyone that would be in competition to him
becoming the Pope. Machiavelli reinforces this when he states that there are two ways to become
powerful, One becomes prince through some wicked and nefarious means (Machiavelli, 333)
This is seen as necessary for power to be guaranteed, and maintained. He also secures and
controls the city by sending a mercenary named de Lorqua to enforce the publics behaviour.
Borgia was not killing anyone inside the city, nor does anyone realize that it is him doing it.
Once people feared de Lorqua, Borgia brutally kills him and puts the body on public display, to
show the population who they should really fear, who they should really listen to. He relies

heavily on fear to maintain his power, and it works. As long as the acts are balanced and swift, it
does not matter what the actual acts are. Machiavelli realizes that politicians can and often do
rise to power using immoral actions to instill fear among the general public. But using these
tactics too often can be too harsh and cause people to dislike ones political rule. This is why
rulers that use violence as a tool of control have scapegoats to fall back on, like Borgias use of
the mercenary. This could cause them to revolt against the ruler, and the public can throw them
out of control. However, when dealing with opponents of the state, one must take the use of
violence a step further. In war, one must completely destroy the ability for the enemy to seek
revenge. As Tarlton summarizes, Should you be required to injure or punish someone, it is
better to crush them, because they can get revenge for small injuries but not grievous ones
(Tarlton, 2002). Their capacity to harm the state should not be possible, but it is important that
one does not harm anyone else in the process. If one is to harm another Nation, the state can gain
another enemy in the process. The occasional use of deception is acceptable as long as it is
within reason and has a good outcome in mind. I agree with Machiavellis use of violence in
politics, so long as the reasons of violence are being justified. There are times in todays society
that Machiavellis methods can be used to benefit specific situations.
Since Machiavellis theories thrive on the ideas of fear and power, an example of a
current politician is Donald Trump. Trump not only uses the ideas of power, in regards to fear,
but uses violence to maintain this power. His use of fear mongering over the months of
November and December in regards to the Muslim population during his campaign strikes fear
into Americans. He claims that every Muslim is potentially a terrorist, and so his supporters
become wary of current Muslim-Americans. Trump instills fear into the population, and then
suggests a solution: eliminate Muslims from America by deporting any current citizens, and

refusing any immigrants. By providing a violent solution, his supporters begin to believe that this
is a plausible idea and, despite the lack of ethics in this solution, he gains more power. Donald
Trump is gaining supporters through fear mongering, and providing violent solutionsjust as
Machiavelli suggests.
Machiavelli suggests that the best politician is someone that is feared, yet loved. Donald
Trump can be more effective if he changes his ideologies around many topics. If he does not
express such deep sexism, racism, and classism, he can be more effective of a politician
according to Machiavelli because he will become more liked. If he follows some of the
ideologies outlined by Machiavelli, he has the potential to fit perfectly into the idea of the ideal
politician. Donald Trump expresses hateful language against minorities including women, lower
class citizens, racial minorities, and those with disabilities. Trump has gained a lot of hate from a
large amount of the population due to these blatant statements of elitism. As highlighted by Ben
Margulies, Trump uses a tactic of dividing-up the population, and creating barriers between
groups. One way he does this is through race. As Margulies states, [there is] a battle between
those with a broad conception of who belongs in the American national community, and those
who believe implicitly or explicitly that only whiteness confers true citizenship (Marguelies,
2015). Trump uses techniques to divide the population in order to gain popularity among certain
groups. This is one of the instances where Trump can use techniques highlighted by Machiavelli
because Machiavelli suggests that a nation should all be together as one group, and there should
be no divides. Trumps techniques of creating cultural and racial divided between individuals is
problematic, and he could learn from Machiavellis ideas.
Along with Trumps ideologies regarding marginalized groups, he also has gained a lot of
his power through inheritance. As Machavelli highlights, those that have money and a high

familial status can gain more power. While this is true, Machavelli also states that those who gain
power through inheritance rarely have the skills and knowledge to maintain this power. Donald
Trumps small loan of a million dollars by his father is what provided him the opportunity to
become a public figure through the media, and through his media presence, has gained the
celebrity to enter into the presidential campaign. Machiavelli states Where there is a new prince,
one fines in maintaining them more or less difficulty according to the greater or lesser skill of the
of the who acquires them. And because this act of transition from private citizen to prince
presupposes either ingenuity or fortune, it appears that either the one or the other of these two
things should, in part mitigate many of the problems; nevertheless, he who relies on fortune less
maintains his position best (Machiavelli, 330). It is clear that although Trumps racist and sexist
speeches are highly salient in the media due to his overt bigotry, he has a large amount of
supporters that he gained through fear.
In conclusion, it is clear that Machiavellis ideas on power and violence are clearly
depicted in Donald trumps actions. Machiavellis ideas surrounding the way one gains and
maintains powerfamilial status, violence towards citizens, the use of public display of brutality
and murderare clearly seen in many of the actions and statements by Donald Trump over the
course of the most recent election campaigns. While these techniques are unethical, as
Machiavelli suggests, they are justified because they will bring power and order to a population,
something that must be gained, no matter the cost. It is clear that Donald Trump needs to take
some of Machiavellis ideas, because of the hatred he is gaining from the American public, and if
he is to utilize these ideas, his campaign will be very successful and could even bring him the
position of the President of the United States.

Works Cited
"Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union." The American
Presidency Project. 28 Jan. 2003. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Cahn, Steven M. Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Tarlton, Charles D. ""Azioni in Modo l'Una Dall'Altra": Action for Action's Sake in
Machiavelli's the Prince [Political Action, Machiavelli, Virt and Fortuna, the Prince,
Political Causality]." History of European Ideas 29.2 (2003): 123-40. Web.
Margulies, Ben. "Race, Class and Rage: Right Populism on Both Sides of the Atlantic." Political
Studies Association (2015). Print
Viroli, Maurizio. "Machiavelli's Realism." Constellations 14 (2007): 466-82. Print.