... was therefore seen as the way to implement it, rather than as an activity in its own right. Machiavelli's work represents a major departure from this belief that politics should be a mere instrument in preserving this natural law, and he also revives a school of thought belonging to the ancient Roman republicans. In common with the Romans, Machiavelli believed that politics was worthy of study because the only way that the world could be made a better place was to accept the harsh realities and imperfections of life, and study the present situation in order to understand it, with assistance from the vast store of wisdom accumulated in human history. To this end, Machiavelli asked questions such as 'How can governments be made strong?' and 'How can power be obtained and preserved most easily?'. It can be seen that his predecessors (and even some later political philosophers) were more ...

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