Machiavelli/King Comparison Essay
Niccoló Machiavelli, in The Qualities of the Prince, gives the qualities a prince should have to
maintain his power, or for an aspiring prince to acquire the throne. Martin Luther King, as a leader
in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, did not aspire to the throne but to freedom and
justice for the African-American community. In this context, he wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail
which was addressed to the clergymen who had previously sent him a letter that criticized his
protestations. This letter can be in some points compared to Machiavelli's treatise. Those points are
the notions of love and fear; that of integrity; and the notion of war.
Is it better for a leader to be loved or feared ? According to Machiavelli: "one should like to be
both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared
than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking." This judgment is based on the fact that men
are not trustworthy, and that they will harm you if you do not make them fear you. Machiavelli
then comes to say that a way to make people fear you, and thereby respect you, is to be cruel: "a
prince must not worry about the reproach of cruelty when it is a matter of keeping his subjects
united and loyal". But King, facing a 'Machiavellian' government that used violence and fear against
black protestations, chose pacifism over violence in his protestations against segregation: "We need
emulate neither the do-nothingism of the complacement nor the hatred and despair of the black
nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent process." This shows the
contrast between King's belief in the power of love and his trust in men's against Machiavelli's
belief in the power of fear and his distrust in men. But on the other hand, although King's pacifism
relieved his oppressor from the fear of a physical harm, the fear of a social
maintain his power, or for an aspiring prince to acquire the throne. Martin Luther King, as a leader
in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, did not aspire to the throne but to freedom and
justice for the African-American community. In this context, he wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail
which was addressed to the clergymen who had previously sent him a letter that criticized his
protestations. This letter can be in some points compared to Machiavelli's treatise. Those points are
the notions of love and fear; that of integrity; and the notion of war.
Is it better for a leader to be loved or feared ? According to Machiavelli: "one should like to be
both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared
than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking." This judgment is based on the fact that men
are not trustworthy, and that they will harm you if you do not make them fear you. Machiavelli
then comes to say that a way to make people fear you, and thereby respect you, is to be cruel: "a
prince must not worry about the reproach of cruelty when it is a matter of keeping his subjects
united and loyal". But King, facing a 'Machiavellian' government that used violence and fear against
black protestations, chose pacifism over violence in his protestations against segregation: "We need
emulate neither the do-nothingism of the complacement nor the hatred and despair of the black
nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent process." This shows the
contrast between King's belief in the power of love and his trust in men's against Machiavelli's
belief in the power of fear and his distrust in men. But on the other hand, although King's pacifism
relieved his oppressor from the fear of a physical harm, the fear of a social