The Prince of Machiavelli – “A Questions Set”

Abstract

Based on The Prince of Machiavelli, this article intends to make a critical reflection on the concepts of political power and State, and their interconnection with an alternative contemporary project of social and political order. First, the authors present a biography on theconcept of State having as starting point the Greek polis and the Roman civitas until they reached the model proposed by Machiavelli, where the power of the State is no longer linked to values, becoming the political power the most important value. Secondly the crisis of the democratic state and the implications of social inequality are discussed. Finally, a proposal is made for a new social and political order where social ethic is presented as the value of excellence. In an alternative model of politicalorder, social groups themselves, as minimum units of sovereignty, should develop a new concept of political model where fraternity will have the same weight as the other two Enlightenment pillars.