Canonical · Governance & Power · Book

The Prince: Power as It Actually Works

Niccolò Machiavelli · 1513

"Rulers should be judged by whether their methods preserve power and stability, not by whether those methods are conventionally virtuous."

The idea

Machiavelli wrote the book that made his own name an insult, in 1513: rulers should study how power is actually kept, not how moralists wish it were kept. Effectiveness, not virtue, is the real test.

Why it works

The takeaway — recall it first

Regulatory Capture

"Regulation is typically acquired by the industry it regulates and bent to that industry's benefit, not the public's, because the regulated have concentrated interest and lobbying power that diffuse consumers can't match."

George Stigler · PaperContinue→