Are either Machiavellis or Erasmus Styles of Leadership Relevant to Todays World of the Early 21st Century - Essay Example

By contrast, a feared leader would have suitable reason and excuse for their actions, for instance killing people. On the contrary, Erasmus insists that a true prince should always think of his moral obligations to the people under his leadership. In supporting this viewpoint, Erasmus states that a good prince allows and does everything that would bring peace to his country in realizing that war would lead to misfortunes (Spielvogel 353). In my own opinion, I consider these opposing viewpoints as relevant to today’s world of the early 21st century.

Machiavelli notes that the belief of honesty as the best policy remains as naive. Thus, the natural selfishness of people would be a more realistic starting point for politics. He maintains that a loved leader would persist in doing what should be done would not maintain his power but rather undermine it. Therefore, a leader must be prepared to act immorally when necessary in order to maintain his power. He goes on further to say that, a new leader would always be forced to act treacherously, inhumanly, and ruthlessly and disregard the precepts of religion.

In this regard, a new leader must be prepared to vary his conduct to suit changing circumstances and winds of fortune that would constrain his power. It would be worth to note that a leader should be capable of becoming immoral when necessary but should as well not deviate from the right conduct if possible, as remarked by Machiavelli (Donskis 74-89). Machiavelli’s theories make his politics modern as they incorporate aspects of interdependence, diversity, and political participation. He pictured the ways of world politics in which the most reliable and hard-hitting leaders would survive through warfare.

He constantly opposed the monist tradition in Western rationalism, pluralism, and dualism. The shift from the individualism of liberalism to republicanism emphasized in the western political philosophies. The theory of republicanism recognizes the significance of tolerance, private goals, as well as the instrumental value of society.