ABSTRACT
The apparent permanence of present relations and arrangements makes understanding the significance of short term changes difficult. Over time the lifedevelopment of civilizations is recognized readily - like men, civilizations come into being, mature, and perish from the em1h. Underlying this rise and fall of civilizations is the rise and fall of regimes. The development of a regime also inevitably ends in change and death. Philosophers have sought to explain this development with an eye to prolonging the good stages and shortening the bad. Perhaps the two most important attempts are those of Plato and Machiavelli. The Machiavellian analysis in particular is relevant to regime maintenance and change in republican polities. When combined with Nietzsche's analysis of institutions, a proper understanding of the cycle of regimes as it relates to liberal democracies can be acquired and may provide grounds for its continuing maintenance.
