Considerations on the concepts of (in)equality and (dis)proportion in Machiavelli’s political thought

Abstract

This article intends to consider some aspects of the concepts of equality, inequality, proportion and disproportion in the political thought of Niccolò Machiavelli. I will seek to show how equality and inequality relate to corruption or preservation of republican and princely forms of government and are determined by the presence or absence of gentlemen (gentiluomini) within the political body. I will also try to evince how the notions of proportion and disproportion of power presented in Machiavelli’s text allows us to deduce that the proportion of power constitutes a necessary condition for maintaining principalities and the inequality inherent to them, but it is not the most effective way to avoid the corruption of a republic, whereas the adequate proportion of power in the governmental structure, useful for the maintenance of a republic, is ruined by the existence of socio-economic inequality. After doing that, I will observe how Machiavelli understands the difficult possibility of creating equality or inequality within a political body, theme that, by way of conclusion, I will relate to the current situation in Brazil.