Machiavelli

Machiavelli

And as I speak here of mixed bodies, such as republics or religious sects, I

say that those changes are beneficial that bring them back to their original

principles. And those are the best-constituted bodies, and have the longest

existence, which possess the intrinsic means of frequently renewing

themselves, or such as obtain this renovation in consequence of some

extrinsic accidents. And it is a truth clearer than light that, without such

renovation, these bodies cannot continue to exist; and the means of renewing

them is to bring them back to their original principles.

Machiavelli, The Discourses

Introduction. Communitarian theorists, following Machiavelli, have argued

that patriotic sentiment—a deep emotional identification with one’s fellow

citizens—is vitally necessary to support, defend, and sustain liberal

democratic institutions.[1] Without patriotic virtue, the institutions of

liberal democracy are likely to decay under the weight of self-interest,

greed, and corruption. Theorists rooted in the tradition of liberal

individualism, however, have been a good deal more skeptical about the moral

value of patriotic feeling. Strong emotional attachment to the community

tends to overshadow and eclipse the independence and freedom of individuals.

As George Kateb argues, "If groups are imagined too vividly, individuals lose

sight of themselves and are lost sight of."[2]

There is, no doubt, some justification for the liberal's

skepticism: patriotism too often results in the exclusion and repression of

people in the name of preserving group integrity. On the other hand, it is

likely true that some sort of civic obligation needs to be observed in order

to sust...

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...es," op. cit., p. 165.

[6] Ibid., p. 165.

[7] Tocqueville, op. cit., in note 4, p. 103.

[8] Taylor, "Cross-Purposes," p. 175.

[9] Ibid., p. 170 (emphasis added).

[10] MacIntyre, "Is Patriotism a Virtue?," op. cit., p. 16.

[11] Ibid., p. 13.

[12] This is not to say that this is necessarily MacIntyre's personal

conception of "the nation." This is simply his account of the way that strong

nationalists conceive of the nation with which he may or may not himself

identify.

[13] Ibid., p. 19.

[14] See, ibid., pp. 10-11.

[15] Charles Taylor, "Why Do Nations Have to Become States?," Guy Laforest,

ed., Reconciling the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism

(Montreal: McGill-Queems University Press, 1993), p. 45.

[16] Michael Walzer, "The Idea of Civil Society: A Path to Social

Reconstruction," Dissent (1991), p. 300.