SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGISTS use the term “Machiavellian” to describe ruthless or devious politicians who deceive and manipulate the public by cunning and duplicity – to achieve and defend their personal power.
The word comes from the 15th century Italian Renaissance diplomat and political scientist Niccolo Machiavelli. In his most known literary work The Prince, Machiavelli advised his disciples that in order to become effective leaders, they should learn to be unemotional, and be able to detach themselves from conventional morality.
These corrupt leadership traits seem to have been tolerated and sometimes even openly admired by citizenry throughout history, perhaps because weak leaders have often made their subjects vulnerable to predatory foreign invasions and local indiscipline.
But is Machiavellism an appropriate statecraft for the modern world? United States president-elect Donald Trump promises to show Americans that it is.
Go down the list of Trump’s controversial characteristics and you will find many of the qualities that Machiavelli thought were essential for a successful leader. Trump can be a brazen liar, which the Florentine philosopher believed was a necessary part of leadership.
Trump shows that he can be a bully, like some of the Italian potentates of the age that Machiavelli lauded; talented in character assassination, they were. Greedy, prejudiced, self-willed and hasty and proudly pretending a voracious sexual appetite.
Machiavelli mocked the version of “political correctness” of his day. He thought most advice manuals for princes were nonsense, in calling for saintly goodness rather than strength. For Machiavelli, leadership was about the decisive exercise of power, not about morality. The prince’s task was to create a strong state, not necessarily a “good” one.
“Everyone knows how laudable it is for a prince to keep his word and live with integrity instead of by trickery, but the experience of our own time shows us that the princes who have accomplished great things are those who cared little for keeping faith with the people, and who used cleverness to befuddle the minds of men,” Machiavelli wrote.
On the world stage these days are several other autocratic “bad hombres”, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But Trump’s extraordinary hunger for public affirmation in the power-lustful US might have worried even Machiavelli.
Many like me in Barbados have a cynical view of the way politicians lead us like dumb sheep already. I hope we can prevent Machiavellism from further infecting our management styles in public, business, labour and family organisation.
– LEE FARNUM-BADLEY