Machiavelli’s Liberal Republican Legacy

The significance of Machiavelli’s political thinking for the development of modern republicanism is a matter of great controversy. This reassessment examines the character of Machiavelli’s own republicanism by charting his influence on Marchamont Nedham, James Harrington, John Locke, Algernon Sidney, John Trenchard, Thomas Gordon, David Hume, the baron de Montesquieu, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Concluding that although Machiavelli himself was not liberal, Paul Rahe argues that he did, nonetheless, set the stage for the emergence of liberal republicanism in England.