The Many and the Few
Machiavelli and Guicciardini's Critique of Aristocratic Regimes
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Toronto Press
Published:20th Jan '26
Should be back in stock very soon
The Many and the Few reconstructs a pattern of recurring populist themes in the writings of Francesco Guicciardini and Niccolò Machiavelli. These two pioneering thinkers of the late Renaissance are almost always presented in terms of dramatic contrasts – while Machiavelli's violent populism and scorn for aristocratic culture is well established, many consider Guicciardini the most influential Renaissance advocate of narrow, elitist regimes. In The Many and the Few, Mark Jurdjevic challenges these pre-existing beliefs and argues that Guicciardini was a vastly more complex thinker who subjected his own aristocratic ideals to devastating scrutiny.
From his very first to very last texts, Guicciardini consistently embedded an alternate narrative in which he thoroughly embraced, and arguably exceeded, Machiavelli’s view of the innately positive qualities of the people and destructive qualities of the elites. Subsequent "republican" writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Madison, all claimed Guicciardini as one of the chief Renaissance exemplars of a longstanding tradition of aristocratic, senatorial politics, but The Many and the Few demonstrates that Guicciardini’s contribution was a Trojan horse: it appeared to confirm this tradition even while affirming every aspect of Machiavelli's critique.
“Jurdjevic’s interpretation will prompt readers to rethink a host of received assumptions about Guicciardini’s place in Renaissance thought. An eye-opening study that deserves a wide audience of political theorists and historians.” -- Ryan K. Balot, FRSC, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
“This is an original and engaging study of the most tumultuous years of the Florentine government in the Renaissance, focusing on two thinkers traditionally seen in political opposition: the insider advocate of elite aristocratic rule, Francesco Guicciardini, and the outsider champion of popular government, Niccolò Machiavelli. In this close reading of Guicciardini and Machiavelli's voluminous correspondence and works, Mark Jurdjevic challenges the conventional view of these thinkers and offers a more complicated and interesting picture of their relationship. Jurdjevic presents compelling evidence for the formative importance of a friendship that has been too often overlooked. This is a rich study that questions long- held beliefs in the history of political thought. It will incite much debate among students and academics alike.” -- Anthony D’Elia, Professor of History and Classics, Queen’s University
“Jurdjevic's The Many and the Few is the best- ever comparative analysis of Machiavelli's and Guicciardini's political thought. Paying unprecedented attention to the nuances of Guicciardini's political theory, Jurdjevic shows conclusively that the Florentine patrician was far from a mere ideological apologist for his exalted class; rather, he was an incisive critic who shared with Machiavelli profound hesitations about aristocratic rule, and a desire to devise ways through which common citizens could institutionally constrain their socio-economic superiors. A landmark effort in Renaissance intellectual thought, Jurdjevic also provides invaluable tools to reevaluate the purportedly 'aristocratic political thought of thinkers like Cicero, Sieyès, Adams, and Madison.” -- John P. McCormick, Karl J. Weintraub Professor in Political Science and the College, University of Chicago
ISBN: 9781487566869
Dimensions: 231mm x 157mm x 25mm
Weight: 480g
256 pages