“Machiavelli’s most characteristic, central, and frequently involved concept is that of virtu, a term by no means regularly translatable by ‘virtue,” and certainly not equivalent to virtue in the Christian sense. Though it can sometimes mean virtue, virtu tends mostly to connote energy, effectiveness, and virtuosity. It has been described as ‘a union of force and ability, something that can be summed up by force alone, if by force one means human, not mechanical force: will, and therefore force of ability. The word derives from the Latin virtus, and thus from vir, which means ‘man’. Virtu is thus m

Machiavelli seeks to find the balance between the use of power by the rulers and the ambitious interests of the citizenry. However, there is no perfect balance that exists. What exists is a tolerance on either side to withstand the abuses of both. This means that to a certain degree, the rulers may allow the citizenry to pursue their interests or the citizenry may allow the rulers to go beyond their appropriated powers.

Machiavelli’s discussion on republicanism focused mainly on the structural building blocks of a republic, the continuous conflict between the citizenry themselves, as well as between the ruler and citizenry. However, his discussions did not tackle the intangible aspects of values and culture, and how it is a force that shapes our progress as a nation. “Increasingly social scientists turned to cultural factors to explain modernization, political democratization, military strategy, the behavior of ethnic groups, and the alignments and antagonisms among countries.”

The challenge therefore is not only to identify these societal problems but also to be able to enact solutions that will have long-term positive effects. The general populace must not wait for the occurrence of some external or internal event to initiate the desired cultural shift. Because more often than not, these external or internal events are drastic in nature which tend to cause more harm than good even if they occur under the premise of promoting positive cultural change. In other words, when these external or internal stimulants occur, they do not necessarily translate to changes in the right direction. This is in line with Machiavelli’s theory on conflict as an agent of change when he says that too much conflict, especially when marked by violence, is injurious to the republic as a whole.

Another untoward consequence if the private citizen was allowed to enforce the rule of law would be tantamount to an admission of inadequacy on the part of the state to administer justice among its citizens. “This violation of legality would have caused fear and mistrust in the efficacy of the law to provide for adequate protection. As a result, citizens would have formed factions to protect themselves, thereby causing the downfall of the republic” . It is important to note that when Machiavelli speaks of the rule of law, he refers to the rule of “just” laws. These are laws and statutes that aim to serve and protect the common good. It is only this type of law that can serve as the foundation for the true political and civic freedom.

As a testament to its adaptability and flexibility, Hanna Pitkin believes that virtu applies differently to different individuals. “Although the Citizen is, like the fox and the Founder, an image of manhood, it embodies virtu in a fundamentally different way. For both fox and Founder have virtu through their personal, individual autonomy, understood as needing no others, having ties to no others, acting without being acted upon. For the Citizen, by contrast, virtu is sharing in a collective autonomy, a collective freedom and glory, yet without loss of individuality” .

Some topics in this essay:
Mauricio Viroli, Considering Machiavelli’s, Philippine Economy, Hanna Pitkin, Greek Latin, Law Marcos, Machiavelli Plato’s, Samuel Huntington, Culture Machiavelli’s, Lawrence Harrison, rule law, civil life, political life, rule law machiavelli, law machiavelli, external internal, culture economic, ordinary people, economic development, mass publics, civil political, civil political life, 16th century florence, political civil liberty, role culture economic,