Machiavelli and Modern Political Theory Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, titles, and terminology from the lecture on Niccolò Machiavelli and modern political thought.

Realpolitik

A political approach that eschews ideals and looks directly at the empirical reality of human behavior.

Humanists

Renaissance scholars and men of letters who revived the ideals of classical antiquity, glorifying man and his works in a secular spirit.

Political entrepreneur

A self-made politician who wrests a state through personal skill, daring, and manipulation of power rather than hereditary tradition.

Feudalism

A system of political organization that dominated Europe from about the ninth century A.D. to the Renaissance, characterized by fragmented local political communities.

Nation-state

A form of polity in which people live within a legally defined territory and give their allegiance to one centralized government that has the power to enforce laws.

Power

The ability to control others by compelling their obedience through coercion, ranging from raw violence to subtler forms like favors and dependency.

Machiavellianism

A general term for the perceived evils of power politics, originating from opposition to Machiavelli's writings.

The Prince

Machiavelli's 1513 work written as a technical manual on the logic of acquiring and maintaining political power.

Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius

Machiavelli's work expressing his political ideal of a republican form of government based on popular participation and civic virtue.

Pluralism

A condition of controlled political group conflict that modern political science views as essential to a free society.

Social constitution

A network of underlying social institutions, such as religion, that supports and undergirds the legal structure of a state.

Authority

A basis for obedience where people support laws because they believe obedience is morally appropriate, rather than out of pure self-interest or coercion.

Ethical naturalism

The practice of deriving political values and rules from purely factual or empirical considerations rather than objective moral standards.

Virtu

The qualities of boldness, audacity, courage, intelligence, and foresight that allow human beings to shape events and maintain political order.

Fortuna

The unpredictable element of fate comprising all events that human beings can neither fully foresee nor control.