Chapter I
In the first chapter of Machiavelli's book, The Prince, we are confronted with a good amount of information and wise council, intended to be written for the ruler of a province in Italy.
But the guide is at times so general, it could be used as advice for any ruler. The chapter itself is only a mere 137 words or so. Let us examine the main idea of this chapter, which will also set the tone for the rest of the book.
"All states and dominions which hold or have held sway over mankind have been republics or monarchies." - Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter I
In order to better understand this statement, we must first define what it means to "hold sway" over mankind.
What does it mean to "hold sway" over a someone?
Google provides a fine definition , saying "to have great power or influence over a particular person, place, or domain."
So the question before us really is, "Are republics and monarchies the only states who have held a great power or influence over mankind?"
Is Machiavelli right?
In his time, he may have been. But since we have entered the Modern Period, we know it to be different. There is one form of government, being neither a republic nor a monarchy, which has during the modern period grown to hold a great sway over mankind.
This government would be most accurately described as a Totalitarian Collectivist Dictatorship.
These societies hold a great sway over many resources and peoples, usually by maintaining violent force over dissenters and feeding the populace constant propaganda. It is collectivist in the sense that these societies are built on the principle that it is immoral for one to have more than another, thus everyone must have an exactly equal share. In practice however, a new totalitarian bureaucracy seems to form, who are more privileged than the rest and exercise much power over those whom they rule. We quickly find, in the words of George Orwell, that "some are more equal than others." Which in all practicality defeats the very purpose of their society. Regardless of this, these types of societies exercise a great sway over many people. Some are more corrupt then others, and some abuse their citizens more then others, but overall in practice they are very similar.
Now, these are not republics, because the people do not vote for their leaders to represent them. Neither are they monarchies, because the power that is wielded by the countries leaders is not hereditary.
A few examples of these societies would be:
-The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (Russian: Сове́тский Сою́з, tr. Sovetskiy Soyuz [sɐ'vʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjʉs]), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик (СССР), Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪsˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk] ( listen)) was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a supranational union of national republics, but its government and economy were highly centralized in a state that was unitary in most respects. The Union's capital was Moscow.
The Union constitutions, which were promulgated in 1918, 1924, 1936 and 1977,[81] did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers[82] that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed.
-The People's Republic of China (Side note: The [the PRC] mainly exercised the described traits above during Mao's "Cultural Revolution." In more recent times, the PRC has become more free, less collectivist, and less of a dictatorship. It still has much to work for, and it is up to their citizens to gain their freedoms, but for now they are better of than during the Cultural Revolution. I just wanted to be clear as to what period of time I was referring to, as the PRC of today is much different than that of the 70s.)
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia. With a population of over 1.381 billion, it is the world's most populous country.[15] The state is governed by the Communist Party of China, and its capital is Beijing.[16] It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau), and claims sovereignty over Taiwan. The country's major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower.[17][18]
The regime consolidated its popularity among the peasants through land reform, which saw between 1 and 2 million landlords executed.[106] Under its leadership, China developed an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons.[107] The Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.[108] However, the Great Leap Forward, a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation.[109] In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval which lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.[110]
-Communist Vietnam
Vietnam (UK /ˌvjɛtˈnæm, -ˈnɑːm/, US Listeni/ˌviːətˈnɑːm, -ˈnæm/;[8] Vietnamese: Việt Nam [viət˨ nam˧] ( listen)), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV; Vietnamese: Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam (About this sound listen)), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 92.7 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the world's 14th-most-populous country, and the ninth-most-populous Asian country. Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia across the South China Sea to the east and southeast.[d] Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976.
In the aftermath of the war, under Lê Duẩn's administration, there were no mass executions of South Vietnamese who had collaborated with the U.S. or the Saigon government, confounding Western fears.[68] However, up to 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to reeducation camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labor.[69] The government embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories.[70] This caused economic chaos and resulted in triple-digit inflation, while national reconstruction efforts progressed slowly.
At the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in December 1986, reformist politicians replaced the "old guard" government with new leadership.[74][75] The reformers were led by 71-year-old Nguyễn Văn Linh, who became the party's new general secretary.[74][75] Linh and the reformers implemented a series of free-market reforms – known as Đổi Mới ("Renovation") – which carefully managed the transition from a planned economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy".[76][77] Though the authority of the state remained unchallenged under Đổi Mới, the government encouraged private ownership of farms and factories, economic deregulation and foreign investment, while maintaining control over strategic industries.[77] The Vietnamese economy subsequently achieved strong growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction, exports and foreign investment. However, these reforms have also caused a rise in income inequality and gender disparities.[78][79][80]
-North Korea
North Korea (About this sound listen), officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK About this sound listen), is a country in East Asia, in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the nation's capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok (known as the Yalu in China) and Tumen rivers.[9] The country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two.
North Korea functions as a highly centralized, one-party republic. According to its 2009 constitution, it is a self-described revolutionary and socialist state "guided in its activities by the Juche idea and the Songun idea".[80] The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) has an estimated 3,000,000 members and dominates every aspect of North Korean politics. It has two satellite organizations, the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party[81] which participate in the WPK-led Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland. Another highly influential structure is the independent National Defence Commission (NDC). Kim Jong-un of the Kim family heads all major governing structures: he is First Secretary of the WPK, First Chairman of the NDC, and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.[82][83] Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994, is the country's "Eternal President",[84] while Kim Jong-il was announced "Eternal General Secretary" after his death in 2011.[82]
While these governments are corrupt, and I believe that they govern unfairly, they do hold sway over mankind.
Thus, from our analysis, we can assert that there are other governments than just republics and monarchies that hold sway over mankind. Thus, Machiavelli is mistaken.
However, I would revise the statement slightly, and I believe that it would correct Machiavelli's mistake.
"All governments that hold sway over mankind are either authoritarian or democratic."
This, we can see from history, is true.
But as time goes on, who knows? Maybe one will think up a new form of government that will hold sway over mankind that is neither authoritarian nor democratic. But I suppose we will have to see. For now, we will allow this revised statement, but we cannot affirm its conclusivness.
Well, this concludes our analysis of chapter I. If you enjoyed this, upvote it! If you have a critique or suggestion, let me know in the comments. I'm active fairly often and will try to answer you as soon as I can.
Cheers friends, and remember, keep Steeming!