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The Municipal Machiavelli

Machiavelli's The Prince Rewritten for Municipal Politicians

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  • Chapters 1-7
  • Chapters 8-14
  • Chapters 15-21
  • Chapters 22-26
  • Addenda
  • Miscellanea
The Municipal Machiavelli

Chapters 22-26

Click on any chapter to go directly there:

  • Chapter 22: Loyal Staff & Wise Advisors
  • Chapter 23: Avoid Flatterers & Sycophants
  • Chapter 24: How Not to be Re-Elected
  • Chapter 25: Skill Beats Luck Every Time
  • Chapter 26: The Forest and the Trees

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  • Chapters 1-7
  • Chapters 8-14
  • Chapters 15-21
  • Addenda

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The Prince by Chapter:

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI

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Chapters

  • Opening Quotes & Dedication
  • Introduction
  • 1: Home Town Kingdoms
  • 2: Why Incumbents Rule Municipalities
  • 3: Newcomers Versus Incumbents
  • 4: Flexing Your Muscles
  • 5: Troublesome Incumbents & Staff
  • 6: New Ideas Make Enemies
  • 7: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?
  • 8: Does the End Justify the Means?
  • 9: Problems Newcomers Face
  • 10: Defending Your Position
  • 11: Agencies You Can’t Control
  • 12: Crafty Consultants
  • 13: Dangerous Lobbyists
  • 14: Learn the Rules of War
  • 15: Looking Good, Acting Bad
  • 16: Parsimony Beats Generosity
  • 17: Better to be Feared Than Loved
  • 18: The Subtle Art of Lying
  • 19: All You Need Isn’t Love
  • 20: Factions & Fortresses
  • 21: Saving Your Reputation
  • 22: Loyal Staff & Wise Advisors
  • 23: Avoid Flatterers & Sycophants
  • 24: How Not to be Re-Elected
  • 25: Skill Beats Luck Every Time
  • 26: The Forest and the Trees

Addenda

  • A Brief Biography
  • About The Prince
  • Demonizing Machiavelli
  • Why Machiavelli Matters
  • Machiavelli’s Rules
  • Machiavellian Misquotes
  • Translating Machiavelli
  • Machiavelli’s The Art of War
  • The Ten Faults
  • Quotes from Machiavelli
  • Other Quotes
  • Letter to Francesco Vettori
  • Bibliography & Sources

Miscellanea

  • Machiavelli’s The Art of War
  • The Ten Faults
  • Other Quotes
  • Quotes from Machiavelli
  • Letter to Francesco Vettori

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Web Links

  • My Blog
  • E-Machiavelli
  • Annotated Prince
  • Gutenberg.org
  • The Great Courses
  • Wikipedia
  • Machiavelli Resources
  • Don MacDonald’s Graphic Novel
  • My biography
  • Archived post on leadership

The Municipal Machiavelli

The Municipal Machiavelli is a (mostly) satirical look at Machiavelli's master work, The Prince with commentary and observations, applying his ideas to municipal politics. It is not meant as a scholarly or definitive approach to Machiavelli's philosophy, politics or art. As Juvenal wrote, "Difficile est saturam non scribere:" It is difficult not to write satire.

Similarly, Montaigne wrote, "My natural style is comedy, but one whose form is personal to me, a private style unsuited to public business..." One can only hope the reader gets the humour intended, but appreciation cannot be forced.

However, the author sincerely hopes that in reading his words, you gain some insight into Machiavellian issues, as well as the engaging and sometimes contentious practice of municipal governance and campaigning. And that you get a bit of a chuckle along the way.

The complete work including all pages and posts, are copyright © 2013 by the author, all rights reserved. It will be released as an e-book in 2014.

The blog posts contain recent commentary, insight, book reviews and any material I feel is related to Machiavelli, politics, issues, current or historical events .

Verbiage

  • 37,860 Words (post)
  • 72,772 Words (page)
  • 221 Words (custom)
  • 110,853 Total words

Recent Posts

  • Machiavelli’s Prince as satire June 8, 2017
  • Machiavelli for Mayors is almost complete April 29, 2017
  • The skirt-lifting incident March 19, 2017
  • Tim Parks translates The Prince April 16, 2016
  • A Machiavellian Mis-quote February 26, 2016

Excerpts:

Chapter 17: Better to be Feared Than Loved

Sure, every politician wants to be popular; we want to be seen as a friendly, generous, considerate, thoughtful, accessible, caring and compassionate. We want photographs and news stories to capture us helping people, serving the community, reaching out, smiling as we hand over the cheque to the local charity. In terms of public relations,

“Every prince [...]

Read More

Machiavelli’s Rules

Machiavelli’s ideas about power and governing can be boiled down to a handful of rules, somewhat paraphrased below and not in any particular order of importance:

Winning matters. If you win, people will judge the methods you used to win as appropriate. If you lose, they will despise both you and your means. If you can’t be both [...]

Read More

Chapter 7: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

Sometimes you win an election because you were lucky: you happened to be in the right place at the right time. A few years ago, when the federal Conservative and Reform parties were independent and competing, they both often ran candidates in one riding. The result was a split vote on the right that let a [...]

Read More

Chapter 23: Avoid Flatterers & Sycophants

You know who they are: the people around you who praise your every decision, who tell you how smart you are, how wise you are, how brave you are, what a nice suit you’re wearing today. These are the flatterers, the sycophants, the smooth talkers. They deceive you with lush words that make you feel [...]

Read More

Chapter 22: Loyal Staff & Wise Advisors

Choose your staff, and the councillors who will work closely with you, wisely. Make sure the people who represent your council and the municipality on important boards, or as your delegates, are up to the task, and will express your message – not promote their own agendas. Make sure your senior staff are people you [...]

Read More

Recent Comments

  • Respect, Not Admiration – Unodiscuss Blog on Chapter 17: Better to be Feared Than Loved
  • I Think My Brother Won't Speak to Me Because I Voted for Trump - Page 13 - Talk About Marriage on Machiavelli’s Rules
  • References – Truth in Politics on Chapter 18: The Subtle Art of Lying
  • Wärme und Kompetenz – Gut geführt? on Chapter 17: Better to be Feared Than Loved
  • America Has Fallen. But She Can Recover and Run Again. – The Conservative Historical Review on Chapter 8: Does the End Justify the Means?
  • Home
  • Chapters 1-7
  • Chapters 8-14
  • Chapters 15-21
  • Chapters 22-26
  • Addenda
  • Miscellanea
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