Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) introduced what some believe to be the crux of modern political science: the focus on power. His great work The Prince was about the getting and using of political power. Many philosophers peg Machiavelli as the first modern philosopher because his motivations and explanations had nothing to do with religion. Machiavelli was not as wicked as some people say. He was a realist who argued that to accomplish anything good-such as the unification of Italy and expulsion of the foreigners who ruined it-the Prince had to be rational and tough in the exercise of power.
Although long depreciated by American political thinkers, who sometimes shied away from “power” as inherently dirty, the approach took root in Europe and contributed to the elite analyses of Mosca, pareto, and Michels. Americans became acquainted with the power approach through the writings of the refugee German scholar of international relations Hans J.Morgenthau, who emphasized that “all politics is a struggle for power.”