Introduction
The linked video is basically about the famous political excerpt ‘The Prince’ written by the Italian historian, diplomat and political scientist Nicollo Machiavelli. The video explores some of the main points, ideas and opinions expressed in this writing by Machiavelli. These include the qualities that a given leader, in this case the prince, should have so as to lead his subjects efficiently and effectively. Machiavelli in this famous political treatise makes reference to past princes to show how situations were handled by them and how they learned from past mistakes.
As a public administrator, there are a variety of things that can be learnt from this documentary tribute to Machiavelli. The narrator of the video clearly paraphrases some of the most important quotes from the Machiavelli’s treatise. It is stated that the first thing that any public leader should do is to protect his power. The main reason for this is that without the power, you are no different from the subjects that you hope to lead and develop. A good leader is one who exhibits vigor and confidence in the performance of their duties (Guarini 1999). At the same time, the leader should be flexible and open-minded.
A public administrator should know how to fight for his own. He should be cool and sometimes ruthless. He should learn to deviate from the ‘book’, to lie and to break his word or even violate religious values and principles when a particular situation requires it (Guarini 1999). However, compassion, morality and devotion are also very important qualities that every aspiring leader should have.
The narrator also stresses the point put forward by Machiavelli that a smart or efficient administrator knows how to act in times of calamities or disasters such as wars. A good leader should always be prepared for war and should learn how to use his immediate environment and surroundings to his advantage. Another point emphasized is Machiavelli’s assertion that the ‘end justifies the means’. This means that the process used to achieve a certain goal or objective is acceptable no matter how bad or evil it is if the eventual result is favorable.
There is however some points brought forward in this particular presentation that I personally don’t quite agree with. The idea that a leader should strive to keep hold of his power through any means necessary including use of violence and cruelty is surely not a good quality of a leader. My personal sentiments are that no leader or administrator should stay in power if the general subjects do not approve.
Machiavelli alludes to past princes to show how they dealt with varying situations. The world is constantly changing and I feel that ways of dealing with particular situations evolve together with the world and thus one should not make use of past techniques that may no longer work.
Finally, there are a lot of aspects in the presentation that can apply to the president of any country. The post of presidency is one of the highest positions that any aspiring leader hopes to achieve. For the president to be effective he should incorporate a variety of vices in his leadership methods so that his accomplishes what he desires for his country and these accomplishments are remembered over time (Guarini 1999). By using the above stated vices as suggested by Machiavelli, the president will surely become an effective and efficient leader who will be adored by the citizens.
References
Guarini, Elena (1999). Machiavelli and the crisis of the Italian republics. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
