ABSTRACT
The interpretations of Machiavelli are legion. According to many commentators Machiavellian doctrine consisted in the advocacy of all that was most violent and devious in politics. Machiavelli, the political scientist, is portrayed as seeking to discern the underlying laws governing political relationships. The notorious 'problem' of the relation between The Prince and the Discourses is resolved by arguing that Machiavelli's aims and method remain constant but that his subject matter differs, the laws of principalities being different from those governing republican politics. Machiavellianism regards politics as the struggle for power. Machiavellianism aimed at dealing three blows to Marxist 'scientific socialism'. Machiavellian political science and Machiavellian statecraft are linked by their common denominator — power. As James Burnham argued, Machiavellianism is fundamentally a science of power. Nevertheless Machiavellianism remains a theory of power if not of violence. The Machiavellians thus combine reductionism and verificationism.
