In The Prince, Machiavelli divides all governments, with respect to their form, into “monarchies” (principalities) and “commonwealths” (republics). A monarchy means a government where sovereignty rests, formally, in a single man; a commonwealth means a government where sovereignty rests, formally, in more than one man. A commonwealth, therefore, need not be “democratic” in any usual sense; nor a monarchy, tyrannical.
