Machiavelli's The Prince 'And Erasmus' Praise Of

Society has recognized that in order to maintain direction, a line must be drawn between those who govern and those who are governed. Although governors appear to be in charge, ultimately, they are just mere delegators. The power lays in the hands of the people; however, due to the fact that the grip on that power is loose, the people are easy to give it away. Using Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, and Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, this essay will argue that the governed collectively have more jurisdiction than governors, which causes governors to attempt to minimize the people’s power, in order to strengthen their own. Governors understand that they derive their power based off of the magnitude of unity amongst the people, therefore, the governors

The governor has two ways of achieving this goal; Machiavelli presents the idea that “men must be either pampered or crushed.” The idea of total annihilation relates the idea that governors in fact fear their people, and in order to ensure reversed fear, leaders must inflict severe punishments that will instill apprehension when thinking about going against the governor. Crushing an opponent means violently subduing them, taking away their ability to dethrone the leader. Contrastingly, when pampering the people, the governor makes them weak by playing off their profound loyalty, which is established in different ways. Foremost, it is necessary that the governor “have the friendship of the people” because “he will never be let down by [them]; and he will be found to have established his power securely.” By creating companionship and trust, the people will believe nothing other than the fact that their ruler has their best interest in mind, thus abnegating their power over the ruler. Initiating trust with the people, secures the leaders role and authority furthering the people’s devotion to who their governor is and what he enforces. Erasmus also recognizes the strength of pampering and friendship since “every eye is trained on him,” the governor must “devote himself to the public. . .and must think only of the well-being of his people.” Erasmus appears to be more sincere about the prosperity of the governed, however, it is still clear that the cause of loyalty is through the people looking at who is in charge and basing their judgments off of that image. If a ruler proves to be someone that puts the people before himself, then the people will be like sheep unto a shepherd and will follow without question. Machiavelli affirms this, after including that the governor must “devise ways by which citizens are always and in