The reputation of the Florentine politician, political thinker, and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) has been largely shaped by his controversial political treatises, The Prince and Discourses on Livy. However, Machiavelli left us a broader and diverse corpus of writings. This dissertation focuses on what is perhaps the least-known portion of this corpus: Machiavelli’s poetry. Traditionally, scholars of Machiavelli have considered his engagement with poetry as a narrow and marginal component of his intellectual biography. Conversely, this project showcases how Machiavelli’s poetic activity, which he pursued throughout the vast majority of his adult life, intersected a broad spectrum of human and intellectual concerns, cultural practices, and social interactions. In light of this, poetry provides a unique opportunity to reassess the figure of Machiavelli across its full range of dimensions. Concurrently, Machiavelli’s poetic writings offer valuable insight into the manifold roles that poetry could play in the cultural and social world of Renaissance Florence. To illustrate the scope of Machiavelli’s poetic activity, this dissertation analyzes selections of Machiavelli’s political, amorous, and comic poems. In Chapter 1, devoted to Machiavelli’s political poetry, I address the three poems On Fortune, On Ingratitude, and On Ambition (also known as the Capitoli on account of their meter). I begin by assessing how Florence’s tradition of civic and poetic rhetoric influenced Machiavelli’s three poems, which allows me to then elucidate how the poems fit into Machiavelli’s anthropological-political laboratory. Indeed, my analysis shows how a rhetorically-informed approach facilitates the task of interpreting Machiavelli’s political thought across prose and poetry. In Chapter 2, I look at Machiavelli’s love poetry in relation to notions of desire, gender, and sexuality. Specifically, I focus on two poems that appear to voice homoerotic desire as well as on the two poems that Machiavelli addressed to the Florentine courtesan, virtuosa, and poet Barbera (b. 1500). My analysis highlights two complementary functions that the practice of love poetry had for Machiavelli and his contemporaries. On the one hand, love poetry was a vehicle for articulating reflections on love, gender, and sexuality. On the other, the practice of love poetry facilitated an array of homosocial and mixed-gender interactions. In Chapter 3, I move on to consider Machiavelli’s comic poetry. In particular, I analyze Machiavelli’s three sonnets to Giuliano de’ Medici and his two political epigrams. In so doing, I foreground how Machiavelli’s comic poetry intertwined humor and gravity by leveraging four ingredients: wordplay, parody, satire, and gallows humor. As part of my analysis, I also call attention to the role that those ingredients played in some literary and social practices of the Italian Renaissance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:27:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marcelo marin.pdf: 436365 bytes, checksum: d6cc0d4a3e39eb05d72d95f068d9c00a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-25 / Based on a comparative study between two publications by Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini, respectively, the Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Lívio and the Considerazioni intorno ai Discorsi del Machiavelli, we intend to elicit how the main ideas of civil freedom and civil disagreement appear in the political philosophy of each of the authours mentioned. Taking into account examples of ancient Rome, Machiavelli tries to show situations in which civil disagreement enhanced the institutions and guaranteed civil freedom. On the other hand, Guicciardini denies Machiavelli s arguments, facing civil disagreement as an element intrinsically harmful to the maintenance of the political unit. In order to appropriately explain the thoughts of both thinkers, it was necessary to understand the way Guicciardini and Machiavelli conceived the citizens political participation in the governmental institutions. Therefore, studying these Renascentists shows us how the topic civil disagreement is important to reflect the balance and social dynamics of political communities / Com base em um estudo comparativo entre duas das obras de Niccolò Machiavelli e Francesco Guicciardini, a saber, respectivamente, os Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Lívio e as Considerazioni intorno ai Discorsi del Machiavelli, o presente estudo pretende explicitar o modo como as temáticas da liberdade cívica e das discórdias civis aparecerão no interior da filosofia política de cada um dos autores citados. Partindo de exemplos da Roma antiga, Machiavelli procura mostrar situações em que as discórdias civis foram benéficas para o aprimoramento das instituições e para a garantia da liberdade cívica. Guicciardini, por seu turno, recusa a argumentação maquiaveliana, encarando as discórdias civis como elemento intrinsecamente prejudicial à manutenção da unidade do corpo político. Ao longo desse trabalho, para bem situar as posições de ambos os pensadores no trato com a temática que os norteiam, faz-se necessária a compreensão do modo como Guicciardini e Machiavelli concebem a participação política dos cidadãos nas instituições governamentais. Assim, o estudo destes pensadores Renascentistas mostra o quanto o tema das discórdias civis é importante para que se possa refletir acerca do equilíbrio e da dinâmica social das comunidades políticas

Democracy seems to be in crisis and scholars have started to consider the possibility that “the only game in town” might be rigged. This book theorizes the crisis of democracy from a structural point of view, arguing that liberal representative governments suffer from systemic corruption, a form of political decay that should be understood as the oligarchization of society, and proposes an anti-oligarchic institutional solution based on a radical interpretation of republican constitutional thought. If one agrees that the minimal normative expectation of liberal democracies is that governments should advance the welfare of the majority within constitutional safeguards, increasing income inequality and the relative immiseration of the majority of citizens would be in itself a deviation from good rule, a sign of corruption. As a way to understand how we could revert the current patterns of political corruption, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the institutional, procedural, and normative innovations to protect political liberty proposed by Niccolò Machiavelli, Nicolas de Condorcet, Rosa Luxemburg, and Hannah Arendt. Because their ideas to institutionalize popular power have consistently been misunderstood, instrumentalized, demonized, or neglected, part of what this project wants to accomplish is to offer a serious engagement with their proposals through a plebeian interpretative lens that renders them as part of the same intellectual tradition. In this way, the book assembles a “B side” of constitutional thought composed of the apparent misfits in a tradition that has been dominated by the impulse to suppress conflict instead of harnessing its liberty-producing properties. As a way to effectively deal with systemic corruption and oligarchic domination, the book proposes to follow this plebeian constitutionalism and instituionalize popular collective power. A proposed plebeian branch would be autonomous and aimed not at achieving self-government or direct democracy, but rather at an effort to both judge and censor elites who rule. The plebeian branch would consist of two institutions: a decentralized network of radically inclusive local assemblies, empowered to initiate and veto legislation as well as to exercise periodic constituent power, and a delegate, surveillance office able to enforce decisions and impeach public officials. The establishment of primary assemblies at the local level would not only allow ordinary people to push back against oligarchic domination through the political system but also inaugurate an institutional conception of the people as the many assembled locally: a political collective agent operating as a network of political judgment in permanent flow. The people as network would be a political subject with as many brains as assemblies, in which collective learning, reaction against domination, and social change would occur organically and independently from representative government and political parties.

當今現實主義理論學派正面臨著一種淺碟化的危機，伴隨而來的是現實主義深遠的傳統根基遭受簡化以及忽視。本文企圖藉由重新檢驗現實主義傳統的古典文獻，提出在現實主義中的許多被忽略的問題。本文重新定位與評析現實主義之主要理論傳統，包括修昔底德傳統、奧古斯丁傳統、馬基維利傳統、以及霍布斯傳統等四大傳統。此外，本文亦將討論上述四項傳統理論的遺緒。吾人以為，當今現實主義學派的主流理論途徑，存在著嚴重的內在邏輯問題，同時這些問題影響著當代的國關研究。主流學者過度關注於特定版本的霍布斯傳統，因而輕視其它於此理論學派中同等重要的途徑之可能性。同時，透過本文對於現實主義理論傳統多元性與豐富性之展現，本文也指出部分擁簇常識現實主義(commonsense Realism)的學者們，事實上已模糊化現實主義的理論本質。針對上述各種內在的理論問題，作者冀望以本文採一種重新詮釋、重新定位現實主義理論根基的途徑來展現並反省。 / Political Realism is suffering from a crisis of superficialization. The profound traditional roots of Political Realism are being simplified or ignored. This thesis attempts to re-examine the classical texts of Political Realism’s traditions and thus raise questions about some problems in this theoretical programme. Four major traditions which are the Thucydidesian, the Augustinian, the Machiavellian, and the Hobbesian tradition will be re-envisioned and re-appreciated, and their legacies to modern Realists will also be expounded. As this thesis would show, serious inherent logical problems exist in the dominant theoretical approach to Political Realism, which has become pertinent to international relations theory study. Mainstream scholars put too much undue attention on a certain version of the Hobbesian tradition and thus overlook other possibilities which are equally important in formatting this vast theoretical school. By showing the richness and diversity of Political Realism’s tradition, this thesis also suggests that the nature of this theoretical programme is being obfuscated by commonsense scholars. All these inherent theoretical problems will be exhibited in this thesis with an approach to re-appreciate and re-envision the traditional roots of Political Realism.

Liberal thinkers have suggested different theories that legitimise the state's various processes, institutions, and use of coercive power. However, their theories cannot account for those motivations that cause men to put their lives in danger when standing against political oppression. The study of Montesquieu's theory of government can aid liberalism's incomplete account of the political motivations that incline men to defend their liberty. Toward this end, this thesis studies Montesquieu's notions of virtue and honour, and challenges the meaning they have been accorded in previous studies. This thesis suggests that Montesquieu combined these notions in order to conceive a type of motivation that inclines individuals to defend their liberty against encroachment. In order to recover this type of motivation, this study will adopt an approach of close textual analysis with attention to the context. Virtue and honour play a crucial role in Montesquieu's political thought because they foster the preservation of government. Virtue inclines citizens in republics to act with self-sacrifice. However, that virtue does not aim toward the attainment of excellence or of God's grace; rather, Montesquieu conceived virtue in relation to public utility. Honour inclines the subjects of monarchy to pursue their selfish desires in order to derive public benefits. However, Montesquieu did not conceive honour in connection with the liberal motif of the invisible hand; rather, he conceived honour in connection with the pursuit of glory. By combining honour and virtue, Montesquieu conceived a type of motivation that can foster the preservation of liberty in modernity. This motivation enables individuals to enjoy their liberty in times of peace by pursuing their selfish desires; in times of crisis, it inclines them to perform great actions in order to defend that liberty against political oppression. Considering Montesquieu's type can aid liberalism's account of political motivations in the contemporary debate.

This thesis will show how authoritarian governments rest legitimacy on their ability to create socio-economic development. It will point to some methods used to consolidate power by authoritarian leaders in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. An authoritarian regime that successfully creates development is strengthened and does not call for democratic change in the short run. It is suggested that the widely endorsed Lipset hypothesis, that development will eventually bring democratic transition, is true only when further socio-economic development requires that the economy transfers from being based on industrial manufacturing to knowledge and creativity – not on lower levels of development. Malaysia and Singapore have reached – or try to reach – this level of development today, but restrictions on their civil societies have still not been lifted. This thesis describes modern political history in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in a Machiavellian tradition. The historical perspective will give a more or less plausible idea of how authoritarian regimes consolidated au-thority and what role development policies played in the leaders’ claims for authority. The conclusion will give a suggestion on how the political future in these three countries might evolve. It will point to the importance of an active and free civil society as a means to develop the nations further, rather than oppression. This thesis will try to point to the dos and don’ts for authoritarian regimes. The ideas of Plato, Machiavelli and Hobbes provide the structures and methods that authoritarian regimes apply. It will be shown that a regime will disintegrate when it fails to comply with Plato’s and Machiavelli’s ideas. Although ancient, Plato and Machiavelli provide methods and structures that seem to carry relevance to the modern history of Southeast Asia. I will point to how authoritarian rule can be maintained in the long run. What is required from the political leadership, what are their strategies and methods? What makes people to tolerate or topple authoritarian regimes? Why do some authoritarian regimes successfully create development while others do not? These are some of the questions this thesis will try to answer.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Douglas Antonio Fedel Zorzo.pdf: 869265 bytes, checksum: 9473a988e551499f4b514201bc4f2ef5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The political theory of Niccolò Machiavelli is permeated by a constant and inflexible preoccupation: the military question. The problems about the government relations are followed alongside by considerations about the political necessity of formation and organization of national armies. The Machiavellian military theory, diluted in the set of his works, is revealed as an essential aspect for the maintenance of state ordinations and the conservation of the vivere civile. The success of political institutions is dependent on the capacity for coordination and full absorption of the structures directed for the exercise of war: the military art and the political art create, at the heart of Machiavelli's thought, bonds of an inseparable articulation. The proper relation with the martial apparatus is a condition for the survival of States. In this sense, the primary objective of the study here presented is to delineate and to expose how the Machiavelli's warfare conceptions are thoughtful and grounded in the core of political arguments. On the one hand, we will seek to illustrate the function exercised by the art of war in the interior of the dynamic of state, evaluating the necessary requirements for the fusion of war and politics, beyond to devote one particular attention to the implications of this role in republicans and princely governments. On the other hand, we will intend to expose the way in which the interpretations of the technical nature of the military arrangements advocated by the Florentine secretary were strongly guided by government issues. / A teoria política de Nicolau Maquiavel é atravessada por uma preocupação constante e inflexível: a questão militar. Os problemas sobre as relações de governo são acompanhados lado a lado pelas considerações sobre a necessidade política da formação e da organização de exércitos nacionais. A teoria militar maquiaveliana, diluída no conjunto de suas obras, se revela como um aspecto imprescindível para a manutenção das ordenações estatais e para a conservação do vivere civile. O êxito das instituições políticas é dependente da capacidade de coordenação e plena absorção das estruturas direcionadas para o exercício da guerra: a arte militar e a arte política, no âmago do pensamento de Maquiavel, criam laços de uma articulação incindível. O relacionamento adequado com o aparato marcial é uma condição para a sobrevivência dos Estados. Nesse sentido, o objetivo primário do trabalho aqui apresentado é o de delinear e o de expor em que medida as concepções bélicas de Maquiavel são pensadas e alicerçadas no núcleo de argumentos políticos. Por um lado, buscaremos ilustrar a função exercida pela arte da guerra no interior da dinâmica estatal, avaliando os requisitos necessários para a fusão de guerra e política, além de dedicarmos uma atenção particular às implicações desse papel nos governos republicanos e principescos. Por outro, pretenderemos expor o modo por meio do qual as interpretações de cunho técnico sobre as disposições militares defendidas pelo Secretário florentino foram fortemente guiadas por questões governamentais.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lairton Moacir Winter.pdf: 485027 bytes, checksum: b1932fcc88462b9ba0961d9f4ced6f8e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-18 / The purpose of this work consists of analyzing the place that the big s and people s conflict occupies in Machiavelli s political thought and to investigate its relationship with the political freedom. More specifically, is the understanding of the concept of republican freedom giving special attention to his theory of the humors. The central hypothesis is that the freedom can only be reached by a balance point among the forces in conflict. For that, it is necessary that the conflict, not being annulled, be rationally regulated and normalized by the republican institutions, changing from negative force into force capable to converge in the State the commonwealth, the social order and the freedom of the whole political body. The republican law, born of the permanent confrontation of the antagonistic desires, subverts the negative character of the humors of big and people and it channels the force for the political life, demanding active citizenship of their members, it means, the participation of both humors in the public space as political agents for the maintenance of the freedom. To make it clear, we analyzed, firstly, the position of the tradition and the perspectives of the republicanism towards the problem of the political conflict in order to verify the republican elements present in Machiavelli s political thought. In a second moment, we tried to demonstrate the characteristics of the conflict of the humors, in agreement with those which the desire of the big gets confused with a desire of power, while the desire of the people is associated to freedom. In this perspective, we sought to elucidate the meaning of the good and the bad conflicts for the political life. Afterwards, we tried to highlight the need and the importance of the continuous foundation and re-foundation of the freedom front to the corruption of the republic, resulting from the homogenization of the manners of wanting of the humors in conflict. And, finally, we presented the dynamics of the conflict of the humors of big and people in the civil principality. In this regime, Machiavelli presents the conflict much more in the context of the political alliances than properly in relation to the freedom. From this point of view, we sought to demonstrate that in the civil principality the conflict is thought by Machiavelli not from the optics of the freedom, what is possible only in the republic, but from its role in the conservation and in the maintenance of the prince s power. For this reason, we tried to defend the theory of the republicanism of Machiavelli, according to the true political freedom is only possible when the antagonistic humors can relieve their desires through the participation in the public space of debates and collective decisions, what can only happen in a republican regime. / O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em analisar o lugar que o conflito de grandes e povo ocupa no pensamento político de Maquiavel e investigar a sua relação com a liberdade política. Mais especificamente, trata-se de compreender o conceito de liberdade republicana concedendo especial atenção à sua teoria dos humores. A hipótese central é a de que a liberdade somente pode ser alcançada mediante um ponto de equilíbrio entre as forças em conflito. Para isso, é necessário que o conflito, não sendo anulado, seja racionalmente regulado e normalizado pelas instituições republicanas, convertendo-se de força negativa em força capaz de fazer convergir no Estado o bem comum, a ordem social e a liberdade de todo o corpo político. A lei republicana, nascida do permanente confronto dos desejos antagônicos, subverte o caráter negativo dos humores de grandes e povo e canaliza sua força para a vida política, exigindo cidadania ativa de seus membros, isto é, a participação de ambos os humores no espaço público como agentes políticos para a manutenção da liberdade. Para esclarecê-lo, analisamos, primeiramente, a posição da tradição e as perspectivas do republicanismo frente ao problema do conflito político a fim de verificar os elementos republicanos presentes no pensamento político de Maquiavel. Num segundo momento, procuramos demonstrar as características do conflito dos humores, de acordo com as quais o desejo dos grandes se confunde com um desejo de poder, enquanto o desejo do povo se associa à liberdade. Nesta perspectiva, buscamos elucidar o significado dos bons e dos maus conflitos para a vida política. Em seguida, procuramos destacar a necessidade e a importância da contínua fundação e re-fundação da liberdade frente à corrupção da república, resultante da homogeneização dos modos de desejar dos humores em conflito. E, por fim, apresentamos a dinâmica do conflito dos humores de grandes e povo no principado civil. Neste regime, Maquiavel apresenta o conflito muito mais no contexto das alianças políticas do que propriamente em relação à liberdade. Deste ponto de vista, buscamos demonstrar que no principado civil o conflito é pensado por Maquiavel não a partir da ótica da liberdade, o que é possível apenas na república, mas do seu papel na conservação e na manutenção do poder do príncipe. Por esta razão, procuramos defender a tese do republicanismo de Maquiavel, segundo a qual a verdadeira liberdade política somente é possível quando os humores antagônicos podem desafogar seus desejos mediante sua participação no espaço público dos debates e das decisões coletivas, o que pode ocorrer apenas num regime republicano.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maicon Jose Fortunato.pdf: 765268 bytes, checksum: aa21bf7f9eaf22920f32c800a0398654 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this paper is to investigate the concept of history in Machiavellian`s thought. It is, specifically, an analysis of the eighteen first chapters of his book Discorsi on the First Decade of Livy, which we believe to emerge a solution to the original problem of the constitution of forms of govern in the time. For this, we start with an examination of the historical and intellectual Quattrocento Italian. The intention is to demonstrate the conceptual framework that has influenced and Machiavellian political theory with which the thinker dialogues in his writings. Moreover, we highlight the return that the author makes the theory of circularity presented by the Greek historian Polybius. From Polybius, we expose his conception of historical temporality marked by circular movement of the forms of government, as well as the paradoxical problem that involves the formulation of mixed government. In this regard, we noted how Machiavelli takes this theory with the intention of recovering the discussion on the establishment of political regimes. Regarding the resumption seek to affirm that overcoming the Machiavellian thought to not accept the circularity as a determining factor of historical time. From this analysis comes the hypothesis that the temporal history as an expression of the movement of forms of government cannot be understood by natural law or by any other determinant a priori. Following these assumptions, we find the theory of conflict a vital component to understanding the dynamics involving both the political organization of state such as the movement elaborated by history. So, being the political element essential for the promotion of political organization, as well as for the realization of liberty in republics, also conclude that it is their responsibility to the mobilization of historical processes. The conflict in synthesis can be understood as the space of political action performed within the company, as this space has the constant possibility predominant trait of "creation." This sphere of action not only mobilizes the story (in order to raise their movement), but acts as a characteristic of "doing" history. In other words, the story has as one of its core components forming the field of human creation. Added to this the issue of corruption that marks the limits of human action in time. Machiavelli sees the degeneration process of the political as a condition of nature in all political body thus historical process is limited by that element which marks again, the field of contingency that the universe is subjected political. Finally, a search for the conception of history in Machiavelli reveals, in our view, the secularization of its elements, the identification of political conflicts as its mobilizer and the possibility of coming-into-being as a dimension of their process. / O objetivo desta dissertação consiste na investigação da concepção de história no pensamento maquiaveliano. Trata-se, especificamente, de uma análise sobre os dezoito primeiros capítulos de sua obra Discursos sobre a Primeira Década de Tito Lívio, da qual acreditamos emergir uma solução originária para o problema da constituição das formas de govero no tempo. Para isso, partimos de um exame sobre o panorama histórico e intelectual do Quattrocento italiano. A intenção está em demonstrar o quadro conceitual que influenciou a teoria política maquiaveliana e com o qual o pensador dialóga em seus escritos. Além disso, destacamos o retorno que o autor faz da teoria da circularidade apresentada pelo historiador grego Políbio. Deste último, expomos sua concepção de temporalidade histórica marcada pelo movimento circular das formas de governo, bem como, a problemática paradoxal que envolve sua formulação do governo misto. A esse respeito, evidenciamos a forma como Maquiavel retoma tal teoria com a intenção de recuperar a discussão sobre a constituição dos regimes políticos. No que tange a essa retamada procuramos afirmar a superação do pensamento maquiaveliano ao não aceitar a circularidade como uma condição determinante do tempo histórico. Desta análise nasce a hipótese de que a temporalidade da história, enquanto expressão do movimento das formas de governo, não pode ser compreendida por uma lei natural ou por qualquer outro determinante apriorístico. Seguindo essas premissas, encontramos na teoria dos humores um componente vital para a compreensão da dinâmica que envolve tanto a organização política dos regimes, como o movimento engendrado pela história. Assim, sendo o conflito político o elemento primordial para a promoção das ordenações políticas, bem como, para a efetivação da liberdade nas repúblicas, concluimos que também cabe a ele a responsabilidade para a mobilização dos processos históricos. O conflito, em síntese, pode ser entendido como o espaço da ação política realizado no interior da sociedade, espaço esse que possui como marca predominante a constante possibilidade de criação . Essa esfera do agir não somente mobiliza a história (no sentido de impulsionar o seu movimento), mas atua como uma característica do fazer histórico. Em outras palavras, a história possui como um dos componentes formadores de sua essência o campo da criação humana. Soma-se a isso o tema da corrupção, que demarca os limites da ação humana no tempo. Maquiavel vê o processo de degeneração dos regimes políticos como uma condição inerente a todo corpo político. Dessa forma, o processo histórico encontra-se limitado por esse elemento, o que marca, mais uma vez, o campo de contingência a que está submetido o universo político. Enfim, uma busca pela concepção da história em Maquiavel revela, a nosso ver, a secularização de seus elementos, a identificação dos conflitos políticos como seu mobilizador e a possibilidade do vir-a-ser como uma dimensão de seu processo.

This thesis will show how authoritarian governments rest legitimacy on their ability to create socio-economic development. It will point to some methods used to consolidate power by authoritarian leaders in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. An authoritarian regime that successfully creates development is strengthened and does not call for democratic change in the short run. It is suggested that the widely endorsed Lipset hypothesis, that development will eventually bring democratic transition, is true only when further socio-economic development requires that the economy transfers from being based on industrial manufacturing to knowledge and creativity – not on lower levels of development. Malaysia and Singapore have reached – or try to reach – this level of development today, but restrictions on their civil societies have still not been lifted. This thesis describes modern political history in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in a Machiavellian tradition. The historical perspective will give a more or less plausible idea of how authoritarian regimes consolidated au-thority and what role development policies played in the leaders’ claims for authority. The conclusion will give a suggestion on how the political future in these three countries might evolve. It will point to the importance of an active and free civil society as a means to develop the nations further, rather than oppression. This thesis will try to point to the dos and don’ts for authoritarian regimes. The ideas of Plato, Machiavelli and Hobbes provide the structures and methods that authoritarian regimes apply. It will be shown that a regime will disintegrate when it fails to comply with Plato’s and Machiavelli’s ideas. Al-though ancient, Plato and Machiavelli provide methods and structures that seem to carry relevance to the modern history of Southeast Asia. I will point to how authoritarian rule can be maintained in the long run. What is required from the political leadership, what are their strategies and methods? What makes people to tolerate or topple authoritarian regimes? Why do some authoritarian regimes successfully create development while others do not? These are some of the questions this thesis will try to an-swer.