By Stephen Smoot
Most know Nicolo Machiavelli as the Renaissance Italian who penned “The Prince.” He wrote it as a private piece of advice for the new leader of the Italian city-state of Florence, Lorenzo di Medici. The book entered the public realm through publication after Machiavelli’s death.
The broader scope of Machiavelli’s writings reveal a man of faith, but not of religion, of literature, but not one of the great poets or playwrights of his time. Like Benjamin Disraeli in Victorian Britain, he focused on politics and policy while dabbling in fiction.
His most famous writing that produced the most impact lay in practical political leadership philosophy, but his best work was a description of an unfortunate encounter with a lady of less than honorable repute.
The 16th chapter of The Prince, called “Concerning Liberality and Meanness,” covers the potential problems faced by a head of state or government when it comes to spending. Specifically, this refers to what the old time politicos used to call “distributing the loaves and fishes” that the government is often in a unique position to hand out.
In his time, the term “liberality” did not refer to a political point of view. The term meant a free spending government. “Meanness” did not indicate abrasiveness of character or personality, but of restraint in spending.
Machiavelli wrote, “It would be well to be reputed as ‘liberal’” in the first paragraph of the chapter.
The previously reigning “prince” of West Virginia government, Governor Jim Justice, seemed to take this segment of advice to heart. During his eight years as chief executive of the Mountain State, Governor Justice built his reputation on an Andy Griffith style personality coupled with his willingness and ability to hand money to local officials for sometimes vital and sometimes just “nice to have” projects.
Having an incredibly adorable bulldog as a sidekick did not hurt him at all.
Governor Justice, if he had read “The Prince,” could be said to have followed the initial advice perfectly. Machiavelli wrote also that “liberality exercised in a way that does not bring you the reputation for it, injures you . . . any one wishing to maintain among men the name of liberal is obliged to avoid no attribute of magnificence.”
In other words, if a head of state follows the path of a liberal prince, he or she needs to make sure that credit goes where credit is due.
Governor Justice did just that. He succeeded in passing the Roads to Prosperity road bonds and put his name beside a number of projects funded by the State. The number of state agencies multiplied, requiring additional high paid salaries.
In Machiavelli’s time, most national governments from city-states to vast empires were ruled by men who held onto power until they died or were usurped. Governor Justice met his end through term limits and won election to the Senate.
In doing so, he sidestepped the pitfall of almost every “liberal” prince. This style of national leader “will be compelled in the end, if he wishes to maintain the name of liberal, to unduly weigh down his people, and tax them, and do everything he can to get money. This will soon make him odious to his subjects, and becoming poor he will be little valued by any one; having offended many and rewarded few.”
Machiavelli notes that Julius Caesar enjoyed great popularity in his rise to power due to his liberality, “but if he had survived after becoming so and had not moderated his expenses, he would have destroyed his government.” And keep in mind, neither the Roman Republic nor Empire understood the concept of debt financing a government.
The nature of the American Republic is that no one serves as chief executive of a state or the nation for an unduly long time. Patrick Morrisey of Jefferson County took over the Governorship in January and ran into the typical problems incurred by the liberal prince.
Though the “liberal prince” Justice had departed, the State of West Virginia quickly developed a “liberal” reputation. Funding requests for a broad variety of projects were granted. The State seemed to be able to do whatever it wished financially and any concerns were met with glowing revenue reports.
Governor Morrisey comes from the American conservative political tradition, meaning that his instinct is toward what Machiavelli termed “meanness.” That means restrained spending, careful consideration of new projects
The Prince, Machiavelli wrote “ought not to fear the reputation of being mean, for in time he will be more considered than if liberal, seeing that with his economy, his revenues are enough that he is . . . able to engage in enterprises without burdening his people.”
Governor Morrisey has a tall mountain to climb. Not only did the people of West Virginia grow accustomed to liberality, but the State Legislature did as well. When he entered office, Governor Morrisey had to, as Prince Otto von Bismarck said about a much different situation, “pour water into their sparkling champagne” by announcing he had inherited a $400 million structural deficit that would extend over years.
That combined with a perfect storm of federal regulations, state fixes, and economic issues that suddenly bedeviled the Public Employees Insurance Agency that covers most state and local government employees in West Virginia.
Governor Morrisey had to deal with both the pitfall of seeing liberality drain resources while also bringing his fiscal conservatism to bear. Partly due to this, Governor Morrisey has struggled to find his footing with the State Legislature as all in State government seek ways to address the very real needs currently unmet, such as the EMS Salary Enhancement Fund that was mysteriously depleted.
“We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean,” explained Machiavelli. He cited Pope Julius’s several wars fought “without imposing any extraordinary tax on his subjects, for he supplied his additional expenses out of his long thriftiness.”
Governor Morrisey has a rocky path to tread here at the beginning of his term, but he must stick to his fiscally conservative guns. While the State has hit financial issues, the business friendly State Legislature over the past decade or more has put West Virginia on a much better footing than it saw between the 1930s and the opening of the 21st century.
With the right and restrained approach that prioritizes fundamental needs, and also cooperation as opposed to contention, the Governor and the State Legislature should be able to get the State back on a proper footing.
