“You must know there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man ” (The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli pg. 62).
Machiavelli favors both one being a man and the other being an animal. In the same way, Armand-Jean du Plessis Duke de Richelieu also use the same method being a man and a beast at the same time. Cardinal Richelieu was born 9 September 1585 at Paris.
He became the first Prime Minister of France in 1624, which gave him power to convince Louis XIII about how should he rule France. His authority was never questioned due to his social status in France. Machiavelli had many principles of being a perfect prince; Cardinal Richelieu used his same tactics to achieve his power. Although, Richelieu took action quickly to seize the moment, for nothing to go any further, and having a chance to take the king out of the picture. Niccolo Machiavelli’s opinion about ruling a freedom state and the citizens having the power to overthrow a prince, “When a state accustomed to live in freedom under its own laws is acquired, there are three ways of keeping it: the first is to destroy it… (pg.
24 1 st paragraph).
Cardinal Richelieu first issue was to deal with a group called Huguenots. The group had political influence and military presence towards the citizens. Richelieu foresaw that having political and military power the means and makings of a revolt. So Richelieu stripped the Huguenots of all political and military power through the signing of the Edict of Ala is in 1629. In addition, Niccolo Machiavelli believed that when you wanted a new law, you must use force (pg.
The Essay on Political Power in the Prince by Machiavelli
Machiavelli argues in another major work that the purpose of politics is to promote a “common good.” How does this statement relate to the ideas Machiavelli presents in The Prince? The fact that two of Machiavelli’s greatest and most famous works on political power came into being thanks to the downfall of his own political career is quite ironic. More ironic however is the way he contradicts his ...
27 1 st paragraph).
Cardinal Richelieu employed state officials. The officials successfully carried out their role of executing government orders within the state, and using force to deal with any attempt to refuse them. As a result, the enforcement was successful and the king’s authority was never defined. Thus, Richelieu always took action if there was any danger of losing the crown from Louis XIII. Above all, Richelieu took punishment for only the purpose of more power.
Niccolo Machiavelli The Prince “it will be less easily lost, for the ruler, using the rebellion as his excuse, will be the less reluctant to establish himself solidly punishing defectors, uncovering suspects, and strengthening his position wherever it is weak” (pg. 15 paragraph 1).
Richelieu emphasized that rigorous punishment of even small crimes would forestall greater ones, through this reasoning; Richelieu fortified and upheld the French State. Having nobles part of the monarch will only give less power to the prince and there is a high chance of corruption and conspiracy against the king (pg. 22 paragraph 1).
Richelieu also believed this theory so he implanted a spying device in order to watch every nobles move so there will be less conspiracies plotted against the king. Therefore, Richelieu punishes the people, and nobles to have an end result of more power. For this purpose, Richelieu and Machiavelli had the same ideas. The tactics that Cardinal Richelieu used were the same tactics as Niccolo Machiavelli.
Such tactics were eliminating the Huguenots, employed state officials, punishment, and lastly spying on nobles for fewer conspiracies. If the rulers today in England should read about Machiavelli, and or executive managers of a business or a law firm should read his principles and guarantee to succeed.
The Essay on Federal v. State Power
As citizens of the United States we exist under a federal system of government. There are different levels of the system, each cooperating with the next and each having some form of formal authority over the people. The age long argument has been: “more state power is most effective – no, more federal power is most effective”. There are also those who believe that an equal cooperation between both ...
