I wrote this paper as the final project for my independent study in Italian 499. It discusses the similarities between the tactics that worked for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and the recommendations of 16th century political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli’s most famous book, The Prince, focused on the ways that a ruler could maintain power. He based his observations on human nature, and although he did not see much success in his time, his work has been celebrated by later generations. Since human nature ought to remain relatively unchanged throughout the decades, it is sensible that the same political advice could apply today, even in a drastically different social environment. My project focuses on the choice to exploit the human ego to obtain maximum political benefits, the use of an antagonistic elite, and the necessity of a stabilizing reaction to the clashes between them and the collective
