When Democracy Works The tension between republics and principalities runs through all of Machiavelli’s work. The Prince is a manual for autocrats, teaching princes how to acquire and maintain personal power through methods that often contradict republican values. The Discourses on Livy is a celebration of republican government, analyzing the Roman Republic’s success and drawing lessons for modern republics. This apparent contradiction has puzzled readers for centuries. Was Machiavelli a republican who wrote The Prince as satire or as a desperate job application? Was he a cynical realist who recognized that republics were noble failures while principalities were effective? Or...