The Machiavellian ruler is one that is sly, cunning, and secretive. He is to mask his true intentions all the while avoiding inconsistency and often acting against mercy, faith, humanity, frankness, and religion in pursuit of the preservation of the state. The prince is one that uses the innate fear in every person as a method of subjection through intimidation. A successful Machiavellian prince acknowledges that the commitment to honesty and virtue is impossible for a successful leadership. "According to the famous formula of 'The Prince,' "good laws and good armies' are the principal foundations of all governments." In the final analysis, then, force, prudence, and justice are the foundations of the political order." In "The Prince," Machiavelli states "hence it is necessary that a prince who is interested in his survival learn to be other than good, making use of this capacity or refraining from it according to need.".
Feared or Loved.
The attribute of a successful Machiavellian prince on being feared or loved by the courts subjects is discussed when Machiavelli inquires "whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. "3 Ideally, a Machiavellian prince should be both loved and feared, but if he cannot have both and must choose either love or fear, it is better for the prince to be feared. However, the prince must be careful to avoid making himself hated so that he may avoid a revolt from his subjects because a prince that is hated cannot lead a nation that despises him. Machiavelli asserts that it is better to be feared because the fearful are less likely to turn on their ruler while love is a bond that is easily broken. He wholly expresses this idea of fear being more beneficial to the prince when he avers that "love endures by a bond which men, being scoundrels, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present.
