As we continue our journey through Machiavelli's infamous manual of statecraft, we arrive at a particularly revealing section where his pragmatic worldview fully emerges.
I wonder: where do civil servants fall on the spectrum between prince and pauper? Do they wield princely authority on behalf of the state, or remain paupers—bound by rules and rank, with little real autonomy?
Closer to the Prince than to the Pauper since they inherit the power of the state - at least the power to obstruct, if not to enable - and their professional identity is tied to the prince, not to the pauper.
I wonder: where do civil servants fall on the spectrum between prince and pauper? Do they wield princely authority on behalf of the state, or remain paupers—bound by rules and rank, with little real autonomy?
Closer to the Prince than to the Pauper since they inherit the power of the state - at least the power to obstruct, if not to enable - and their professional identity is tied to the prince, not to the pauper.