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Cited by 50Renaissance and Early Modern StudiesSeventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical ThoughtPolitical Theory and Democracy

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 20 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Addressing the Political Exception: Machiavelli's “Accidents” and the Mixed Regime

McCormick, John P.·1993·American Political Science Review
DOI 10.2307/2938821
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Abstract

First, I will demonstrate that Machiavelli's conception of political phenomena is richer and more varied and conforms to an adequate understanding of political reality more closely than later, more “systematic,” or “regular,” conceptions often associated with the Enlightenment. Second, I find in Machiavelli strong grounds for resisting authoritarian claims that the variegated and unpredictable nature of political phenomena must be managed with unipartite and, especially, centralized practical political alternatives. I focus upon Machiavelli's frequent use of a particular word by which he refers to politically significant occurrences,accidente. I argue that his employment of this word, especially in theDiscourses, serves to accentuate his sensitivity to the irregular, nonsystematic nature of political reality—to the possibility of “exceptions.” But I demonstrate that his practical response to this reality, is not a perpetually vigilant, all-powerful sovereign but is, rather, a far more moderate answer, the mixed regime.

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Machiavelli, 1950, Il Principe
  2. Polybius, 1979, The Rise of the Roman Empire
  3. Guicciardini, 1965, Maxims and Reflections of a Renaissance Statesman
  4. Schmitt, 1921, Die Diktatur
  5. Machiavelli, 1985, The Prince
  6. Guicciardini, 1975, Ricordi

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Metadata

Authors
McCormick, J. P.
Affiliations
University of Chicago (US)
Corresponding author
McCormick, John P.
Venue
American Political Science Review
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1993-12
Volume
87
Issue
4
Pages
888-900
ISSN
  • 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5943
DOI
10.2307/2938821
OpenAlex
W2320467963
Cited by
50
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 7215 d)
Locations
  • American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
Keywords
Niccolò Machiavelli, accidents, mixed regime, political exception, Discourses on Livy, political reality, authoritarianism, Enlightenment political thought

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