Directions: Read the Summary of “The Prince” and answer the following questions, based on your own opinion. Give the answer that you think would help you best rule a country.

The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli

·  There are four ways a new prince can acquire a principality: by one's own arms, by the arms of others, by evil means, and by civil means. A principality that is won by a prince by his own arms is most secure. (1, 2)

·  "In the end, the arms of another will fall from your hand, will weigh you down, or restrain you." Chapter 13, pg. 52 (2)

·  "The two most essential foundations for any state, whether it be old or new, or both old and new, are sound laws and sound military forces. Now, since the absence of sound laws assures the absence of sound military forces, while the presence of sound military forces indicates the presence of sound laws as well, I shall forego a consideration of laws and discuss military forces instead." (3, 7, 10)

·  "A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war, its methods and its discipline, for that is the only art expected of a ruler." (4, 11)

·  Machiavelli states that in an ideal world, it is virtuous for a prince to be good. But in reality, princes who distance themselves from ethical concerns and do whatever it takes for the benefit of their states rule best. (5, 6)

·  "The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. I conclude that since men love as they themselves determine but fear as their ruler determines, a wise prince must rely upon what he and not others can control." Chapter 17, pg. 61 (5, 6, )

·  When two neighbors are at war, a prince must never be neutral; he must take sides. The prince must have the wisdom to choose the least risky venture and act on it courageously. (8)

·  Wisdom is also needed in picking and satisfying his closest advisors and avoiding flatterers. (9)

·  When a prince conquers a new territory that shares a common language and culture as his original domain, all he needs to do to maintain control is to extinguish the former ruling line. (12, 13)

·  The prince must protect weaker neighbors and weaken powerful ones. He must not let a powerful force enter his territories, including allies. Last, the wise prince must be willing to use force to remedy a situation before it becomes unfixable. It is almost always more effective to confront problems early. A wise prince must not put off confrontations for another day. (14, 15)


1. Do you behave better for a teacher you like or a teacher you’re afraid of? Why?

2. If you could steal $100 and know you would not get caught, would you? Why?

3. Make a list of the qualities and characteristics a good leader has (example: honesty and fairness).

4. If you were going to take over a country, how would you do it?

A. Using your own personal army

B. Using your friend’s army

C. Poisoning the king and murdering his whole family

D. Explain to the people that the king is bad and that you should be the leader

5. How would Machiavelli answer, why do you think he is right or wrong?

6. You hear people talking about that you are a bad king/queen. What do you do?

A. Kill them all!

B. Kill them all and their families

C. Reason with them, explaining why they are wrong.

D. Ask them nicely to stop

7. Why did you choose that answer?

8. How would you show that you are a great ruler?

A. Build a great monument that represents you

B. Make sure your people have food.

Build up your army and conquer other countries

D. Make people bow to you wherever you go

9. What type of advisors would you pick?

A. Friends and family

B. People who pay you the most

C. People who always praise you

D. People who are wise and honest, but may disagree with you

10. From the Summary of The Prince, why do you think Machiavelli’s book was so important to the creation of modern politics? (Why do today’s leaders still follow his advice?)


Tough Decisions

Sometimes the decisions we have to make can affect our entire future. How do we make the right ones? We can use the process in this activity to consider our options and learn to decide what is best for us.

  1. What things do you value in a person? (Honesty, kindness, etc.)
  1. Which of your own values are most important to you?
  1. What are some decisions or situations that tempt you to go against your values and beliefs?
  1. Pretend you are the person in the situation below. Read the situation and make your own decision using the decision making process.

Situation: You observe a friend cheating during a test: you see him copying answers from the girl sitting next to him, the girl who often gets perfect test scores. A few days later you are studying with a group when you friend strides over. He is waving his test paper and boasts of his grade: 100% A+. He also reads aloud the comments the teacher wrote: “Great work! You’ve improved so much so fast! Keep it up!” How would you act in this situation?

Step 1. List three options for yourself in this situation.

.

Step 2: List one consequence of each option.

Step 3: Implement your decision! Explain which of the options you would choose and why.