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Product Category: Projects
Product Code: 00001350
No of Pages: 67
No of Chapters: 5
File Format: Microsoft Word
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE………………………………………………….………………i
CERTIFICATION……………………………………………………ii
DEDICATION………………………………………………………..iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………….iv
TABLE OF CONTENT……………………………………………...v
CHAPTER ONE:
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………1
1.2 Purpose of
Study…………………………………………....2
1.3 Statement of the
Problem…………………….4
1.4 Methodology………………………………………………..7
1.5 Literature Review…………………………………….……..7
CHAPTER TWO:
HISTORICAL INFLUENCE AND POLITICS OF MACHIAVELLI
2.1 Biography……………………………………………….…..13
2.2 Machiavelli in
Politics…………..……………….…14
2.3 Admonition to the
Prince…………………...16
2.4 The politics of
Princes………..……………..……21
2.5 The Idea of Virtu and Fortuna in
Machiavelli.22
2.6 The Politic Of the Republic and
the Principality ..23
CHAPTER THREE:
THE PRINCIPLE OF DEMOCRACY: MACHIAVELLISM IN
3.1 The Concept of
Democracy………………..28
3.1.2 Conditions of Democratic
Governance…...31
3.1.3 Democracy and Popular
Sovereignty………32
3.1.4 The principle Of
Equality……………………..34
3.1.5 The Idea of Freedom in
Democracy………..36
3.2 Glossary Look on
3.3 Machiavellianism in Nigeria
Politics since independence……39
3.4 The
3.5 The
3.6 The Dawn of the
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.1 Godfatherism- a
Means………………….49
4.2 Influence of Ethnicity and
Tribalism………51
4.3 Poor Economy and the Quest for
Survival...53
4.4 Religious
Conflict………………………….54
4.5 Nature of Educational
System…………….55
4.6 Squandermania Mentality………………….56
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Critical
Evaluation………………………….58
5.2 Conclusion…………………………….61
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………...63
CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Machiavelli has gained the world popularity
because of the way he conceived and understood politics. Today “Machiavellism”
is used to describe a political situation characterized by tyranny, despotism, deception
and violence. This is because of Machiavelli’s approach and guidelines towards
achieving stability in the state. Machiavelli
crafts a perspective that aligns politics with warfare, and justifies the
deployment of force, the exercise of cruelties, the practice of deceit and the
manipulation of appearances in the service of government. He was greatly influenced by the political
disarray in
The Machiavellian principle in its nature
considers the end of actions and not the means used. This poses a state of the
survival of the fittest. This situation to a great extent negates the principle
of democracy and scuttles its growth. Democracy as we know is praised for its
space for freedom, equality, justice and fairness. For any democratic
institution to flourish all traces of Machiavellism should be eschewed. This is
my major concern in this work. I shall verify how the Machiavellian principle
is in play in the
1.2
Purpose of Study
The aim of this work is to critically analyze the principles of
Machiavelli. This will take the form of stating and describing the whole
content of his principles as well as pointing out its implications. Also I
shall ‘x-ray’ the principle of democracy tracing its origin and the conditions
for its practice. This verification will be done within the Nigerian situation.
However, the sole issue here is to relate the principle of Machiavelli to the
situation of democracy in
In addition, to reject the existence of this Machiavellian principle is
being unrealistic and insincere to the whole assignment. This principle due to
its tyrannical and immoral nature has attracted the criticisms of many
political thinkers and philosophers. Some spoke against its immoral nature.
Marx and Engel in criticizing Machiavellism maintained “the true exponents of
Machiavellian policy are those who attempt to paralyze democratic energies at
periods of revolutionary charge”[1].
The dangers of this principle compose a threat to the moral foundation of
political life in general and
1.3 Statement Of The Problem
Man in his nature is a political, social and religious being. These
three aspects of man plays a very important function in making man what he
ought to be. These aspects are complementary in the sense that none supersedes
the other in the various endeavours of man. Religion acts as a shield to human
conduct and as such promotes morality. This morality is further expressed in
the form of virtues. Virtue guides our actions including our socio-political
life. Morality has been a thing of concern for many political thinkers and
philosophers. Some understand morality as a sine
qua non for life. Ekwutosi Cosmas, in his definition of morality states
that it is “the rightness and wrongness of the human action”[2].
The problem of morality constitutes a major part in Machiavelli’s
political philosophy. From the ancient times, philosophers had always
associated politics with morality. They identified politics in moral tenets.
The case of Machiavelli was that of a radical contrast. To this Joseph Omoregbe
states, “he writes to remove morality if they want to be successful politicians
or rulers”. There is no space and consideration for morality. Machiavelli from
the start disposed his readers that “straightforward efforts to master and
apply the tenets of traditional rules will not produce an effective ruler.
Politics must have its own rules”[3].
A look on the views of other philosophers will show the place they assign to
morality in political life. For Socrates human actions are associated with
morality. Thus, he opines, “to know the good is to do the good. Knowledge is
virtue[4]”.
He equated knowledge with virtue and maintained that to have the knowledge of a
virtue is to have virtue. Plato in his moral philosophy states, “Virtue means
knowledge, a true knowledge of the true consequences of all acts”[5].
Plato follows Socrates in maintaining that the goal of human life is happiness
and that the only road that leads to it is through a virtuous life.
In addition, Aristotle’s theory of morality centers on his belief that
people, as everything else in nature has a distinctive ‘end’ to achieve. He
begins his Nicomachean Ethics by saying that “every art and every inquiry and
similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good. If this is
so the question for ethics is, what is the good at which human behaviour aims?”[6]
Happiness is the end that is sought for its own sake. For
1.4 Methodology
The method of my research will be highly critical and expository which
will aim at analyzing the principles of Machiavelli and the principle of
democracy. I will juxtapose Machiavellian principles with the practice of
democracy in
1.5 Literature Review
Here a review of the theories of some other political thinkers will be
made. We shall examine all the periods.
In the ancient period, Plato’s theory of the state is an idealist
theory. For him the polis[8],
the state should reflect the ideally ordered polity which exists in the mind or
in the world of ideas. The ideal state must be a just state. The state
originates because the individual is not self-sufficient and has many needs. In
order to satisfy these needs the state is formed.
For Aristotle, “the state is the highest form of association, most
sovereign, embracing all others and therefore aims at the most sovereign of all
good. It is political ‘he koinonia
politike’ - the communion of life in the form of state”[9].
The state is the summit of all human associations and activities providing for
all man’s needs. Therefore, the states exists by nature since man being a
political animal can best secure the good of life and fulfil his needs together
with other men in the state. The virtue of justice is a feature of a state;
because justice is the arrangement of the political association. Distributive
justice promotes political obligation, unity between citizens and the state.
Thus it “involves treating equals equally”[10].
Aristotle in discussing the components of the state defends slavery. The ideal
form of government for him is Aristocracy. For
The medieval period witnessed many political theorists who propounded
their theories on what constitutes the state and how the state is to be
administered. Augustine in his doctrine of the two cities presents the ‘city of
For Thomas Aquinas, the civil society exists by nature. It comes from
the nature of man as a social animal. His theory could be analyzed from his
treatise on law. Justice holds an important place in his theory. It means for
him, “rendering to each one his right[13]”.
There are two distinctions of justice, namely particular and general justice.
Thomas More advocated for communism and bought platonic idea of the philosopher
king. The best and ideal state should “aim at happiness or the pleasure of the
entire people and not only that of a few privileged citizens”[14].
He rejected the use of capital punishment. Religion is important in the state
and those that are not religious should not be given leadership ranks. Thus he
says, “but those who denied God’s existence and providence, the immortality of
the soul and sanctions in the future would be deprived the capacity to hold
public office and accounted as less than men.”[15]
He associated morality with politics.
Another theorist, Jean Bodin opines “the state is a secondary or derived
society, in the sense that it is a lawful government of several households and
of their common possessions with sovereign power; but it is a different kind of
society”[16].
The natural social unit from which the state arises is the family. Political
order must be observed because it is the supreme need of man. The supreme power
of the state is vested on the absolute sovereign. He has no right to disregard
the divine authority or the natural law. Thus “the sovereign is unrestrained by
law and he cannot limit his sovereignty by law, so long as he remains
sovereign, for law is the creation of the sovereign”[17].
The sovereign is the supreme creator of the law and has ultimate and full
control over legislation.
It was in the renaissance period that Machiavelli flourished. With his
works, the Prince and the Discourses, he became the first political theorist to
present the state as a political structure to be described on its own. In his
political theory, “Machiavelli deviates from the medieval teachings on the end
of man by contending that the end of man is solely earthly and not heavenly”[18].For
him there is no divine law.
The modern period theorists also contributed immensely to the
development of politics. Thomas Hobbes holds that man originally existed in “a
condition of natural warfare-a state of homo
homini lupus, a condition in which man is a wolf to man”[19].
In the state of nature there is no morality, no law, no right or wrong. People
then enter into bond or contract to establish peace and overcome the condition
of the survival of the fittest. The social contract or commonwealth is the
state where the people give up their right of self-government and establish a
‘unity’. John Locke holds the same view. The state of nature is the state of
perfect freedom and equality. Men enter into social contract in order to form a
political society to avoid the inconveniences that characterize the state of
nature. Here through labor one acquires private property. Thus “he hath mixed
his labor with (nature) and joined to it something that is his own”[20].
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