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The Prince > Why does Machiavelli believe that a hereditary prince has an easier time maintaining his domain?

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Ann (anndejose) | 5 comments Mod
In Chapter 2, Machiavelli states that the hereditary prince has less reason and need to give offense because the dangerous work of establishing new laws has already been done by his predecessors. Assuming that his predecessors avoided earning hatred with these laws, a hereditary prince's task is easier because he can simply continue doing what was done before. As long as he continues this and adjusts to the needs of the time, the people's familiarity with his family's rule will keep the state stable. Not only is ruling a hereditary domain easier for the prince, but so too is retaking a domain. If a prince survives the overthrow of his rule, then his people can use the memory of his old rule as a rallying point against a usurper's new rule. Because the usurper will have to do more harm to the people when he takes over, they will have many reasons to want their old prince back.


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