Machiavelli, Aristotole, and Democratic Elitism

Aristotle, the Greek philosopher lived and wrote				concept of democratic elitism.
his discourse on 'Politics' around 350 B.C. while the				Machiavelli recognised the importance of laws and
Florentine Machiavelli's 'Discourses on Titus Livy'				orders made by 'Parlement' in Paris, which
was published posthumously in A.D. 1531. Aristotle				provided the checks and balances that kept the
enjoys an established position in the field of ethics,				monarch and the nobles from exercising arbitrary
politics, metaphysics, and he 'formulated the field				power. However, security alone was not enough,
of natural philosophy by summarising what the				to truly guarantee freedom or liberty to the
natural philosophers before him had considered				entire nation. Only in a republic would both aspects
relevant.... He is the creator of modern scientific				of political freedom take root. The French
terminology who founded and classified the				government, because it seeks security rather
various sciences extant today' (Jayasinghe 2009).				than liberty has needed to disarm the populace.
That Machiavelli's reputation is somewhat more				Machiavelli believed that an armed citizen militia
controversial can be ascertained from the				was the only guarantee against the tyranny from
dictionary definitions of the word 'Machiavellian'.				within, or from an external aggressor. Another
The Shorter Oxford Dictionary begins				facet that Machiavelli stressed in democratic
straightforwardly enough with the definition of				elitism was that both the nobility and the 'plebs'
'Machiavellian' as a noun: 'A person who adopts the				take an active part in governing themselves. They
principles recommended by Machiavelli in his				may often clash, but this ('the tumults') is to be
treatise on statecraft'; and then, as an adjective:				expected. In Machiavelli's own words... 'they do not
'of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Machiavelli or				realise that in every republic there are two
his principles, adopting unscrupulous methods;				different dispositions, that of the people and that
duplicitous, deceitful, cunning, scheming'. Our				of the great men, and that all legislation favouring
contention is that the latter explanation, although				liberty is brought about by their dissension'
accepted over a along period of time by popular				(Machiavelli, 1965).
use, is a misconception of the valid and influential				For Machiavelli, the elite are opinion-makers. He set
contributions that Machiavelli made to political				great store in the 'rhetorical' character of his
theory and practice.				republicanism. Leaders are identified in open, public
Machiavelli:				debate and this is a cornerstone in the concept of
Although chronologically more recent than				democratic elitism.
Aristotle, this essay purports to begin by				Aristotle:
discussing the impact of Machiavelli on political				Aristotle's 'Politics' is a polemic on political
thought and statecraft, especially his contribution				philosophy. To a certain extent he had been
to the modern concept of 'democratic elitism'				influenced by his teacher Plato, but whereas Plato
followed by a discussion of Aristotle's contribution				was a grand theorist pure and simple, Aristotle's
to the field, especially his central and influential				writings reveal him to be of a more grounded and
concept of 'polity' as a precursor to democratic				empirical turn of mind. Although influenced by his
elitism.				teacher to some degree Aristotle breaks new
Machiavelli gained a reputation and a following for				ground in his exploration of political philosophy.
his contributions to political theory, while he also				Aristotle explores the concept of a political
contributed to the principles of warfare, literature,				community ('koinonia politike'). He deals with the
history and diplomacy. His negative reputation				organisation of the household with the male as
rests on his very first work, written in 1513 but				the head and then women, children and slaves, in
published posthumously in 1532, 'The Prince'. As a				that order and their relationship to each other.
realist and pragmatist Machiavelli discounted the				The male, as husband, father and master, is the
common view held by political philosophers that				central political unit of the household. The 'natural'
moral goodness was the basis for political power,				hierarchies in a state are thus recognised from
giving legitimacy for the exercise of authority.				the beginning. He then deals with 'wealth-getting,
From first hand experience as the Second				outlining practices he calls natural and unnatural
Chancellor of the Republic of Florence before the				forms of trade. He expresses some views which
Medici regained power in 1512, Machiavelli saw that				may be seen as quite unacceptable in today's
the only real concern of a ruler was to acquire				world. '...the male is by nature superior, and the
and maintain power with no regard to the moral				female inferior; and the one rules and the other is
dimension which he saw as completely irrelevant				ruled; this principle of necessity extends to all
to statecraft.				mankind.' It is clear, then, that some men are by
For Machiavelli, force of arms is the only				nature free and others slaves, and for these
legitimising instrument and the foundation of a				latter slavery is both expedient and right' (The
well-ordered political system. Political authority and				Internet Classics Archive: Politics by Aristotle).
legitimacy is built upon force or the threat of				However, his beneficent view of this 'natural'
force and not always upon established principles				order of things is revealed in:
to which all citizens pay homage to. Machiavelli				The abuse of this authority is injurious to both;
described people in general as being 'ungrateful,				for the interest of part and whole, of body and
disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and				soul, are the same, and the slave is part of the
avid of profit' (Stanford Encyclopaedia of				master, a living but separated part of his bodily
Philosophy, 2005; 2009). Subjects obey the laws				frame. Hence, where the relation of master and
of the state because of fear of the superior				slave between them is natural they are friends
power of the state. He bases his arguments on				and have a common interest, but where it rests
the self-interest of the majority of individuals who				on law and force the reverse is true.
do not, in practice, subscribe to moral injunctions				Aristotle goes on to describe various forms of
unless forced by fear of consequences. Here we				household management and various means of
find the basis of Machiavelli's idealisation of the				earning a livelihood. After discussing the moral
'prince' as against the passive, indolent and				virtues of slaves and freemen, Aristotle goes on
ignorant 'people'.				to assert that a ruler must have 'moral virtue to
What political thinkers who came after Machiavelli				perfection, for his function taken absolutely,
termed 'democratic elitism' (Bachrach 1967) had				demands a master artificer, and rational principle is
its origin directly in Machiavelli's vision of the				such an artificer...'(op. cit.). This is in marked
requirements for attaining and holding political				opposition to the Machiavellian position.
power, although not everybody subscribes to this				The word 'democracy' carried negative
view. The concept he developed was termed				connotations for Aristotle. His ideal form of
'virtu', not the same as the English word 'virtue'				constitutional government was the 'Polity (politeia)',
with connotations of moral uprightness. To				an amalgamation of the best of aristocracy and
Machiavelli, who held pagan beliefs, Christian				democracy. While Plato advocated rule solely by
virtues of humility, piety and submission to God's				the 'philosopher king', Aristotle explored several
will, were not the ideal, but heroism, manliness,				forms of rule extant in the real world. He
force of character, and conquest, were. What				discovered monarchy, with only one head of
Machiavelli means by 'virtu' is...'the range of				state, which could degenerate into tyranny.
personal qualities that the prince will find necessary				Aristocracy, rule by a few, is another viable
to acquire in order to "maintain his state" and to				constitutional form. This can degenerate into an
"achieve great things," the two standard markers				oligarchy, a junta. A democracy could also
of power for him' (op.cit.). According to Machiavelli,				degenerate into mob rule. Aristotle condemns an
the ruler must adopt a "flexible disposition" where				'extreme from of democracy' where the
he varies 'her/his conduct from good to evil and				assembled mass of people fall victim to the
back again "as fortune and circumstances				exhortations of a demagogue and sets
dictate"(op.cit.). Machiavelli has also postulated				themselves above the law with dire
another central concept in 'Fortuna', as the				consequences. For Aristotle, 'polity' as a mixed
irrational, malevolent, ultimate threat to the safety				and balanced form of government is exemplified
and security of the state. However, if 'virtu' and				by his advocacy of the 'golden mean' in all things.
wisdom of the ruler is equal to it, Fortuna may be				Polity was a healthy mixture of the elite and the
mastered at least to some extent, if not totally.				masses in a mutually sustaining arrangement. This
What Machiavelli means, according to some				surely was a precursor of a sort, to the modern
commentator, is that in times of trouble the ruler				concept of democratic elitism. For Aristotle it
needs to take drastic, even violent action to				didn't really matter whether the city-state was
restore stability.				governed by the one, the few, or the many,
'Machiavelli lays claim to the mantle of the founder				what he was concerned with was whether each
of "modern" political science, in contrast with				of these forms of government ruled in the
Aristotle's classical norm-laden vision of a political				interest of the state, or of themselves.
science of virtue' (op.cit.). Those politicians who				Polity is defined as the rule of the constitutional
considered Machiavelli to be an ally expounded the				majority under the law in the interest of the
doctrine of 'reason of state' for actions that				whole state. In keeping with his admiration for the
strayed from accepted codes of right and wrong				'golden mean' Aristotle also favoured the growth
(Viroli 1992). This current view of Machiavelli is in				of the middle-classes who are neither very rich
sharp contrast to how he was denounced in the				nor poor.
16th century as 'an apostle of the Devil' (op. cit).				For this degree of wealth is the readiest to obey
However, Machiavelli never advocated evil for its				reason... Hence the latter class (the poor) do not
own sake; it was to be merely an instrument of				know how to govern but know how to submit to
power, which was neutral as far as conventional				government of a servile kind, while the former
morality was concerned. There was also another				class (the rich) only know how to govern in the
view originated by Rousseau that Machiavelli was				manner of a master. The result is a state
a satirist and was merely exposing the immorality				consisting of slaves and masters, not of free
of most rulers. However, all things being equal,				men, and of one class envious and another
Machiavelli preferred conformity to moral virtue				contemptuous of their fellows..... But surely the
and not to its opposite.				ideal of the state is to consist as much as possible
The advocates of 'reason of state' who argue for				of persons that are equal and alike, and this
state absolutism, argue that the good of the				similarity is found in the middle classes...
state takes precedence over all other				Aristotle recognised the best 'law-givers' as
considerations, but is not supported by Machiavelli				coming from the middle class. He cites Solon, who
himself. To him the state was a 'personal				was called upon to frame laws and a constitution
patrimony' almost synonymous with 'private				for Athens. He is said to have put an end to an
property'. Allied to the concept of 'virtu', which				oligarchy to establish the original Athenian
equates to individual initiative, skill, talent and				democracy. Aristotle found Solon to have
strength of the ruler, this shows that the 'reason				established in Athens a democracy which
of state' idea cannot be directly attributed to				operated under constitutional law and the result of
Machiavelli. 'Machiavelli is at best a transitional figure				a good mixture of political elements. Whereas
in the process by which the language of the state				Plato and Socrates had bowed down to the
emerged in early modern Europe'. The idea of a				expert opinion in all matters, Aristotle saw in
stable constitutional regime that reflects the tenor				Solon's achievement the soundness of the
of modern political thought (and practice) is				judgment of the majority, at least in constitutional
nowhere seen in Machiavelli's conception of				matters.
princely government' (Stanford Encyclopaedia of				Among the practical recommendations that
Philosophy, 2005;2009).				Aristotle made to balance the contribution of the
Republicanism, to which Machiavelli attaches the				rich, and the not so rich within the state, he
most importance, dissociates politics from the				advocated fines for the rich if they did not attend
religious and moral order. Machiavelli is said to be				public meetings, or sit in courts of law, with
the first modern writer to point out that that				payment to the poor, to enable them to attend
there was no natural god-given framework to				the meetings and take part in legal proceedings.
political life. Rather it was the task of politics to				He specifies the ownership of property
create order in the world. In the 'Discourses'				qualification should be high for the rich and
Machiavelli refers to the French monarchy and the				moderate for the poor. A commentator concludes
system of government approvingly. However, to				that Aristotle's' ideal was the 'expression of finding
him it was a minimal constitutional order in which				the mean in political matters and thus creating a
people live securely (vivere sicuro), but not in				more durable political association capable of
freedom (vivere libero). The French government				securing the means for the cultivation of ethical
was strong, and held in check the aspirations of				and intellectual virtues as applied to the good life
both the nobility and the common people.				of the citizen'.
According to Machiavelli, the goal of political order				With the emergence of China as an economic
is the freedom created by the active participation				superpower, and the liberal democracies of the
and contention between the nobility and the				West struggling to make ends meet, questions
people. While the common people formed the				are beginning to be asked whether, or what kind
democratic foundation by consent freely given,				of, Machiavellian solution may bring stability to the
the nobility ruled, as is fitting for the elite. This				current chaotic world order.
then, was the foundation of the more modern

Democracy

Machiavelli, Aristotole, and Democratic Elitism