1. Machiavellian founding is somewhat similar to the United States because the founding fathers were provided with the fortune of a tyrannical government and the ability to reform, and use force to gain their liberty from Britain. However, the Constitution was written and designed with the people in mind, and Machiavelli only provides instructions that seem to have only the Princes interests in mind rather than the whole of society.
2. Cesare Borgia was considered a fortunate prince to Machiavelli because he inherited his throne from his father. He was virtuous because once he assumed his father’s position he did everything in his power to lay the foundations of his kingdom as quickly as possible. Borgia worked tirelessly to maintain his
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Cruelty well employed basically asserts that a king should appear as a cruel figure in order to command respect and obedience from his people. However, he cannot appear to be too harsh before his citizens because he may lose their support.
4. In a sense there is a democratic lesson to Machiavelli’s discussion of civil princedom. He explains in Chapter Nine that it is a Princes best interest to seek support of the common people not only because he can then rise to power with his own accord with a mass of people ready to obey his law, but also because if he lost support of them they would have a more difficult time overthrowing him than the Nobles.
5. It is within the Princes best interest to appeal to the people’s needs if he wishes to keep his position of power. In some cases, appearances do matter more than substance, a prince must know when to appear harsh or soft in the view of his people whether he actually is or not.
6. In chapter sixteen Machiavelli insists that being liberal, or generous to others is dangerous to a prince’s position of power because people are deceitful, so therefore he must incite fear and other vices in his subjects so that they are afraid of what the consequences may be if they decide to betray