Machiavellijevo poimanje prava: Kautele republikanskog zakonodavca
Machiavelli's Conception of Law: Cauteles of the Republican Legislator

Summary/Abstract: In the history of political ideas, appropriate attention is paid to Machiavelli’s political thought, but most authors who research or interpret Machiavelli neglect his reflections about the place and role of law in the establishment of a new order and new political institutions. Machiavelli’s name does not appear in overviews of the history of renaissance law, for Machiavelli did not write systematically on law, nor did he pay special attention to it. Instead, the whole body of his work is permeated by his conception of law, particularly the Discourses on Livy, which focus on republics and the republican regime. This article attempts to rehabilitate Machiavelli as a political writer which perceived law as an important instrument of politics, without which it is not possible to found a state or manage common affairs in a state community. And since, in his political theory, the central role belongs not only to the ruler (whether in a monarchic or in a republican regime), but also to the legislator, it is attempted here, through his inquiry into the role and task of the legislator, to deduce his conception of law. The result of this deduction is that law is most certainly not an insignificant subject in Machiavelli’s political theory. On the contrary, it is central to the idea of good government, which is realized in the trinomial: vivere libero – vivere civile – vivere politico (free life – civil life – political life). Good laws, in addition to good weapons (army), are the foundation of each state – in particular, of each republic – in which the role of laws is to incite citizens to subordinate their selfish interests to the common good with the purpose of creating a free, secure and prosperous political community. The citizens are motivated to defend such a community, for thereby they defend and secure also their own freedom, security and well-being. The author, therefore, analyses Discourses on Livy, which focus especially on the role of the republican legislator, who is thus placed alongside the ruler: a good ruler must also be a good legislator, and in a republic, the ruler (in the figure of the chief of state) is elected precisely on the basis of the laws, and he is authorized to propose laws in the interest of the common good.

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