"Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described most famously in The Prince.

The Catholic Church banned The Prince. Humanists also viewed the book negatively. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political realism and political idealism, due to it being a manual on acquiring and keeping political power.

"Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness. Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence." (From the author's dedication to "To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici.")

The Prince was in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics.

Author: Nicolo Machiavelli, Niccolo Machiavelli
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Aegypan
Published: 07/01/2006
Pages: 204
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9781598181630

About the Author
Machiavelli, Nicolo: - "Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469 - 1527) was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, humanist and writer of the Renaissance period. He has often been called the father of modern political science. He was for many years a senior official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his most renowned work The Prince (Il Principe) in 1513. Machiavellianism is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described most famously in The Prince. Machiavelli described immoral behavior, such as dishonesty and killing innocents, as being normal and effective in politics. He even seemed to endorse it in some situations. The book itself gained notoriety when some readers claimed that the author was teaching evil and providing evil recommendations to tyrants to help them maintain their power."