Machiavellianism
Noun
Meaning
the political doctrine of Machiavelli: any means (however unscrupulous) can be used by a ruler in order to create and maintain his autocratic government
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
It is not true that the perfection of police power is the result of the state's Machiavellianism or of some transitory influence. The whole structure of society implies it, of necessity. The more we mobilize the forces of nature, the more must we mobilize men and the more do we require order.
Anyone would find it difficult to question a man ready to open a chest with a scalpel, even if his personality might have hinted at psychopathy, narcissism, or Machiavellianism.
As someone senior once suggested to me in a bit of Machiavellianism, the route to the top is not to make the right friends but to make the right enemies.
Shakespeare Through the Ages: King Lear, p. 317. "As Hazlitt pointed out," writes Bloom, "Edmund does not share in the hypocrisy of Goneril and Regan: his Machiavellianism is absolutely pure, and lacks an Oedipal motive.
While Machiavellianism is notable in the works of Machiavelli, Machiavelli's works are complex and he is generally agreed to have been more than just "Machiavellian" himself.
" Machiavellianism " is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described most famously in The Prince.