The People's Princes

"For more than a decade, John McCormick has been at the forefront of a new wave of scholarship that reveals the anti-elitist and democratic commitments at the center of Machiavelli's political thought. In The People's Princes, McCormick turns his attention to Machiavelli's conception of virtuous leadership and Machiavelli's views on the appropriate relationships between individual leaders, common citizens, and elites. While most people think of Machiavelli as a cynical advisor of tyrants-a man who counseled leaders to aggrandize themselves, by any means necessary, at the expense of their subjects and citizens-The People's Princes fundamentally challenges this understanding. The book draws from Machiavelli's major political works a normative standard for leadership that emphasizes the mutually reinforcing relationship of civic leadership and popular government. McCormick delineates Machiavelli's method of "political exemplarity" by analyzing in detail the Florentine's case studies of leaders and their interactions with populaces throughout ancient and modern history. Civic leaders, Machiavelli recommends, should enhance their reputations by providing for their own eventual obsolescence; specifically, they should establish institutional means through which common citizens rule themselves more directly and substantively. The People's Princes invites readers to consider Machiavelli anew and also reflect on insights that remain relevant in the 21st century amidst growing concerns that political leaders are not accountable or responsive to popular majorities"--