Coercion And Authority In Machiavelli's The Prince

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Karl Marx defines power as money and Max Weber expands on this as aspects part of human nature or patterns. He goes on to explain that there are two forms of power: coercion and authority. Coercion is power as physical force and authority is power by virtue of the belief on legitimacy. In The Prince, Machiavelli discusses the right coercion or behavior of a prince. His premise is on practical rules on how men actually live since men can’t live a virtuous life. Personal characteristics from a prince will either earn the prince praises or condemnation. However, vices are good in order to safeguard the state. A prince should have balance between compassion and the exercise of the rule of law. To adequately punish disloyal subjects, since…show more content…
It is Infrastructural power is the control of influence without the use of physical force (Dobratz et, al,…show more content…
They believed to be very important and not just abstract idea. In George Washington letters, he often warned on letters to correspondents of living a virtues life and that a good moral character essential. Thomas Jefferson said, "I never … believed there was one code of morality for a public and another for a private man." And, Abraham Lincoln said, "nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power." The basic foundation men is in contrast to what Machiavelli thought. We live in a modern nation-state that accepts the enforcement of legitimate laws (Dobratz, Waldner & Buzzell, 2012, p.37). The nation-state has a network of organizations, made of various units with various degrees of autonomy that form a bureaucracy (Dobratz et, al, 2012). The author then explains the legitimate use of physical force: the ability of the state to exercise power over the lives of those people residing within its borders. A Infrastructural power is the control of influence without the use of physical force (Dobratz et, al,
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