Question

What was Niccolò Machiavelli's main argument in his work The Prince?
A ruler should do whatever is necessary to maintain power.

A ruler should strive to maintain equality and fairness.
A ruler should make his subjects as happy as possible.
A ruler should follow all of the teachings of the Catholic Church




A ruler should make his subjects as happy as possible.





A ruler should follow all of the teachings of the Catholic Church.


A ruler should do w

Answer 1

PLz help

Answer 2

in my opinion (of course you'll have to develop on your own), machiavelli's primary assertion is that a leader is there to make the difficult decisions for his subjects. it is not his responsibility to be liked or loved, but instead to be feared and respected.

that isn't to say that he should be cruel. the prince is there to provide for his subjects stability and governence. they are there to provide him the means to deliver (i.e. taxes and labor).

he is also expected to be just (if heavy handed), sly, and wise. he shouldn't fear violence and should be prepared to make war; furthermore, he should be ready to use whatever resources at his disposal to maintain his kingdom, including the people there in.

g.w. bush is an example of some of the more totalitarian aspects of the prince. if your teacher is fairly liberal (like my AP teacher was) you'll get an A just for that.

you might also speak about current socialism in europe and its current migration to the US. one could argue that europe had an easier time accepting socialism because of its history of monarchy and fuedalism. that the common people were ruled by "the prince" throughout so much of thier history, made them more likely to be comfortable with a large government which takes a large role in day to day life. for better or worse, americans have a harder time accepting this idea, because our social morals started with a rebellion against the idea of being ruled by the prince.

that's not to say that we haven't had our own share of leaders that followed machiavellian philosophies

Answer 3

it is the first one