Machiavelli, performative politics, and post-truth populism.

Abstract

In this chapter, Machiavelli's concept of political representation and leadership is explored and what it can teach us about today's political challenges. The argument is presented in three parts: first, Machiavelli's concept of good leadership and governance; second, drawing on contemporary examples, post-truth populism as a form of contemporary political campaigning and leadership; and third, an argument, in the conclusion, that Machiavelli's advice on governance and the common good can help us find ways out of the maze of populist discourse and rule. Machiavelli's “ideology” – as far as he can be ascribed one – is not nationalist or nativist in a populist sense, but patriotic in an inclusive republican sense. Allowing for the significantly different political, cultural and societal contexts of 16th-century Florence and the present day, it is posited that Machiavellian republican patriotism as inclusive populism can mitigate against modern, anti-social populist resentment.