The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom [Paperback]

James Burnham (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 305 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Pub (September 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895267853
• ISBN-13: 978-0895267856
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #629,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best introduction to scientific politcs ever written, March 18, 2000

By 

Greg Nyquist (Eureka, California USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom (Paperback)

It is scandalous that this book should be out of print, for it is without a doubt the best primer on political science ever written. If you are going to read only one book on politics, this should be it. Burnham is no ideologue with an axe to grind. He merely seeks to describe how politics works in the real world of fact. In pursuit of this aim, he discusses five of the most scientifically rigorous of all political thinkers: Machiavelli, Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, Robert Michels, and Georges Sorel. Together, these thinkers represent, according to Burnham, the Machiavellian tradition in political thought. Machiavellians, Burnham tells us, regard politics as a science devoted to describing facts as they really are, not as one may wish them to be.

In a certain sense, I can understand why this book is out of print. Realism in politics is hardly popular. What most people seek for in political theory is not reality but a rationalization for their own wishful thinking.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro to an authentic science of politics, September 26, 2002

By 

Walter (ELGIN, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom (Paperback)

... Georges Sorel would be rather surprised to hear himself called a "conservative," as he was actually a radical left-wing syndicalist who advocated the use of violence to bring down capitalism, a fact to which Burnham alludes. Moreover, far from agreeing with Dante, Burnham makes mincemeat out of him.

The "Machiavellian" writers Burnham discusses span a rather diverse spectrum of views (with Machiavelli and Pareto the only ones who could be called "conservative" in any real sense). What they have in common is an objective, scientific approach to politics that avoids allowing wishful thinking, or ideas about what ought to be, to impede their discernment of what is.

I disagreed with Burnham's tendency to dismiss religious ideas as inherently irrationalist. Also, his clarification in response to Machiavelli's reputation ignores the fact that Machiavelli did, after all, offer some amoral advice, not just non-moral analysis. While some of Burnhams predictions proved correct only in the short run, his method contains within itself the the capacity for self-correction, which is part of the whole point of the book.

This book remains a must-read for all who seek to develop a scientific understanding of politics, regardless of their philosophical persuasion.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political Reality vs Wishful Thinking and Useless Idealism, March 8, 2006

By 

James E. Egolf "James E. Egolf, MA" (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom (Paperback)

One reviewer stated the fact that James Burnham's book titled THE MACHIAVELLIANS: DEFENDERS went out of print was a shame. Indeed, the fact that this book did go out of print is sad, and this reveals that shallowness of contemporary tastes. This book should be required reading for any serious student of history and political thought.

Burnham began his study with Dante (1265-1321) who was supposedly a "modern" man when in fact he was a foolish reactionary. Dante sided with feudal Germans against his fellow Italians were emerging as tradesmen, merchants, and perhaps the first capitalists. The point of this chapter reveals the futility of attempting to maintain a political and economic system that simply cannot be maintained.

Burnham's section on Machiavelli (1469-1527) is very instructive regarding Machiavelli's thinking and "moderns" who have condemned him. Machiavelli wrote THE PRINCE as a warning of how political power actually works as opposed to idealistic nonsensicle glosses of how many hopes the system works. Burnham reveals that Machiavelli warned readers that liberty does not exist because of paper constitutions or pious political platitudes. Freedom exists that there is power vs power, and the resulting compromises help liberty to emerge as a fringe benefit. Burnham warns that calls for political unity or often calls for political oppression and tyranny. Machiavelli has be a political disapproval work among the British. The reason is that Machiavelli exposed hyporcrisy platitudes for what they are, and one of Britain's major exports has been hyprocrisy.

Burnham's treatment of Mosca (1858-1941) and Parato (1841-1923) is instructive in diagnosing the political approval work "democracy." Burnham assesses Mosca's disdain of democracy and agrees that this political approval word means nothing and is a convenient disguise to conceal desires for power and possible criminality. Mosca implied that "elites" hold or take political power in spite of "democracy." Parato bluntly states that elites are in charge of every revolution including Communist revolutions in the name of the proletariat. One commentary wrote that, in effect, Parato's views caused political conseternation especially on part of Lenin.

While Mosca and Parato dealt with elites and power, Sorel (1847-1922)dealt with political violence. Sorel did not so much preach violence as he argued that violence was a part of political reality. Burnham mentions that Sorel argued that working classes were kept in their place by appeals to peace and and end to labor strife. Yet, if the working classes did not cooperate, they were subjected to violence, and the working classes could "turn the table" by their acts of strikes and violence.

Burnham's examination of Michels (1876-1936) is well worth reading. Burnham mentions that the days of liberalism and democracy may be numbered. During and after World War I, there pious calls for "democracy." Michels' response was in effect Democracy for what? In other words if the old political labels and systems were no longer workable, there was no need to hold onto a political system that did not solve serious problems. One could ask to what purpose should democracy be upheld when there was no benefit to a bad, deceptive system.

This reviewer considers THE MACHIAVELLIANS: THE DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM Burnham's best book. Burnham later books were not as thoughtful particularly when he drifted in flights of anti-communism. In order to appreciate Burnham's better writing, one should read this book. Anyone who suffers from political naivete would be cured after a careful reading THE MACHIAVELLIANS: THE DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM.