The Power of the People: Political Corruption in Machiavelli’s Discourses and the Federalist

• In Event: Preserving Popular Government Through Proper Citizenship

Brief Overview

This paper applies Machiavelli’s teaching on corruption to the American founding. American politics are based on an opposing conception of human nature that enables, rather than prevents, the political corruption Machiavelli is concerned with.

Author

• Katherine Paton Hoss, Northern Illinois University