Machiavelli was a practical politician who was greatly disturbed by the conditions of his native state. He never claimed to be political philosopher. His ‘Prince’ contains the tips given to the fictional prince.
The ‘Prince’ as mainly a handbook on the art of ruling and maintaining oneself in power in his advice; he is mainly concerned with the actual state of his time without bothering about its origin, nature, functions etc. Allen says “The Prince was written of a Prince, for a Prince and for no one else”?
However in subsequent period, his ideas were concretized to develop a systematic whole. The following are the various ideas of Machiavelli on state that can be said to have formed into a systematic political theory.
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1. For Machiavelli, state has its origin in the calculating self interest on the part of individuals. For, human beings are selfish, egoistic and ambitious, but weak and fickle.
2. The state for Machiavelli is an artificial creation.
3. Machiavelli identifies three kinds of state, viz., monarchy, aristocracy and republic. He neglected aristocracy, hailed republic as best but favored monarchy in Italy which was plagued by many problems.
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4. State exists only on account of interplay of material interests. Likewise, he makes the Church subservient to the state.
5. Machiavelli supports the constitution of state by citizens with spirit of probity, law abidingness, and trustworthiness in the performance of public duties.
6. Machiavelli puts faith in the reality of power politics. For him, there remains an inherent tendency in states to expand and continue. To quote him, “All free governments have two principal ends—one of which is to preserve their liberties and the other to enlarge their dominions”.
7. Machiavelli is in favour of maintaining a national army without which a state cannot survive for longer period, so he advocates military training for citizens between the age of 17 and 40.
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8. Though, Machiavelli considered force and fear as important ingredient in administration, he does not relegate the significance of law. He regards it as an important aspect in inculcating ‘virtue’ among citizens.
