The Municipal Machiavelli

Machiavelli's The Prince Rewritten for Municipal Politicians

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  • Home
  • Chapters 1-7
    • 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?
  • Chapters 8-14
    • 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
  • Chapters 15-21
    • 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
  • Chapters 22-26
    • 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
    • Opening & Dedication
    • Introduction
    • Biography
    • About The Prince
    • Machiavelli’s Rules
    • Machiavellian Misquotes
    • Why Machiavelli Matters
    • Translating Machiavelli
    • Bibliography
  • Misc.
    • Demonizing Machiavelli
    • The Art of War
    • The Ten Faults
    • Quotes from Machiavelli
    • Other Quotes
    • Letter to Francesco Vettori

Miscellanea

  • The Art of War
  • The Ten Faults (Han Fei Tzu)
  •  Machiavelli Quotes
  • Other Quotes
  • Letter to Francesco Vettori

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

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Excerpts:

Chapter 16: Parsimony Beats Generosity

Picking up the theme from his last chapter, in Chapter XVI: Concerning Liberality and Meanness, Machiavelli makes the point that being generous for its own sake actually harms your reputation, and will cost you all your belongings and political capital. Liberality in his chapter title also translates as “generous.”

If you’re going to be benevolent, even [...]

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Bibliography & Sources

Unless otherwise noted, all quotations from The Prince used in this book are from the W. K. Marriott translation, available in the public domain.

Selections from The Prince are not always used verbatim. Wording and grammar from public domain quotes are often modified for clarity or modernity. In particular I used the Constantine and Bull translations [...]

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Why Machiavelli Matters

You probably entered local politics for some or all of the same reasons the rest of us did: to make a difference. We put our names forward because we wanted to change the way things are, we wanted to fix problems, to change the old mindsets, to move forward, to heal wounds, to contribute to [...]

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Chapter 11: Agencies You Can’t Control

Although Machiavelli’s next chapter, XI: Concerning Ecclesiastical Principalities, might seem to fall outside the boundaries of municipal politics, it has considerable relevance to us today. In his world, the Papacy was not only an ecclesiastical power, but a temporal and military one. The church controlled many cities and had its own army. You won’t find [...]

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Machiavellian Misquotes

Machiavelli today is commonly known by two things. One is the statement that, ‘the end justifies the means.’ The other is by the adjective ‘Machiavellian,’ meaning something evil, underhanded, treacherous, cunning or sneaky in politics. Neither is accurate.

Many people recognize that he wrote The Prince (Il Principe), but few modern municipal politicians can lay claim [...]

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Random quote…

“It is the duty of every good man to teach others those wholesome lessons which the malice of Time or of Fortune has not permitted him to put in practice; to the end, that out of many who have the knowledge, some one better loved by Heaven may be found able to carry them out.” — Niccolo Machiavelli, The Discourses: II, Preface

Recent Comments

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Top Posts & Pages

  • Chapter 25: Skill Beats Luck Every Time
  • Chapter 17: Better to be Feared Than Loved
  • Chapter 13: Dangerous Lobbyists
  • The Ten Faults
  • Chapter 7: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?
  • Chanakya: The Indian Machiavelli
  • Machiavelli on Facebook
  • Chapter 26: The Forest and the Trees
  • Chapter 12: Crafty Consultants
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