{"id":74992,"date":"2022-08-06T22:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=74992"},"modified":"2022-08-11T10:19:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T14:19:56","slug":"political-advisors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/political-advisors\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Advisors: Classic Advice on Choosing & Managing Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How can you choose advisors who will stay loyal to you? How much power should you give them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Prince<\/em>, Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli advises that princes should surround themselves with reliable advisors. He gives recommendations on where to find advisors and what the relationship with them should be like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Machiavelli’s discussion of political advisors below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Choosing & Managing Political Advisors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Advisors can be chosen from among powerful or wealthy families, the army, or the general populace. In contrast to a traditional nobility, where positions are inherited through families who have a historical claim to their position, the power of political<\/strong> advisors should be conditional and come solely from their relationship with the prince<\/strong>. As long as their resources and authority are conferred by the prince, rather than being something they have a natural right to, they won\u2019t risk betraying him. In addition, whatever they accomplish will be linked to the prince in the eyes of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machiavelli advises new princes to allow political advisors to feel like their role is important but to moderate how much power they actually have and how freely they can speak their minds. If a prince is willing to ask for advice and even criticism, that shows that they reward good judgment<\/a>, but a prince who permits advisors to criticize them in public or with particular harshness might look weak. Allowing too much dissent can undermine a prince\u2019s authority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid this, advisors should feel confident in telling the truth, but should only do so when asked<\/strong>. Advisors who exist to flatter the prince serve no purpose, but even those who offer genuine and realistic advice should never offer unprompted criticism or express doubt <\/strong>in the prince\u2019s decisions. For their part, a prince should treat their advisors with respect, but it must be understood by all that the prince makes the final decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Throughout history, political advisors who had too much influence posed a significant threat to the prince\u2019s image and credibility. An advisor who appeared to aspire to power or to already be the true \u201cpower behind the throne\u201d could undermine the authority of the entire government<\/a>. One famous example of this was the \u201cMad Monk\u201d Grigori Rasputin of Russia, beloved by Tsar Nicholas II but widely believed to be a con artist. Rasputin was eventually murdered by resentful nobles, and the tsar was overthrown in a popular revolution a few years later. The evil or manipulative advisor has even become a trope in fiction, from Iago in Shakespeare\u2019s Othello<\/em> to Gr\u00edma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings<\/em>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can you choose advisors who will stay loyal to you? How much power should you give them? In The Prince, Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli advises that princes should surround themselves with reliable advisors. He gives recommendations on where to find advisors and what the relationship with them should be like. Read more about Machiavelli’s discussion of political advisors below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":74996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,275],"tags":[710],"class_list":["post-74992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management","category-politics","tag-the-prince","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical Advisors: Classic Advice on Choosing & Managing Them - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Machiavelli recommends that princes should surround themselves with reliable political advisors. 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