A01=Mark Jurdjevic
aristocracy vs democracy
Author_Mark Jurdjevic
Category=JPA
Category=NHD
Category=NHDL
Category=QDH
elitism
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eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Florentine politics
Francesco Guicciardini
late Renaissance
Niccolo Machiavelli
political philosophy
populism
Renaissance political thought
republicanism
Product details
- ISBN 9781487566869
- Weight: 480g
- Dimensions: 157 x 231mm
- Publication Date: 20 Jan 2026
- Publisher: University of Toronto Press
- Publication City/Country: CA
- Product Form: Hardback
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The Many and the Few reconstructs a pattern of recurring populist themes in the writings of Francesco Guicciardini and Niccolò Machiavelli. These two pioneering thinkers of the late Renaissance are almost always presented in terms of dramatic contrasts – while Machiavelli's violent populism and scorn for aristocratic culture is well established, many consider Guicciardini the most influential Renaissance advocate of narrow, elitist regimes. In The Many and the Few, Mark Jurdjevic challenges these pre-existing beliefs and argues that Guicciardini was a vastly more complex thinker who subjected his own aristocratic ideals to devastating scrutiny.
From his very first to very last texts, Guicciardini consistently embedded an alternate narrative in which he thoroughly embraced, and arguably exceeded, Machiavelli’s view of the innately positive qualities of the people and destructive qualities of the elites. Subsequent "republican" writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Madison, all claimed Guicciardini as one of the chief Renaissance exemplars of a longstanding tradition of aristocratic, senatorial politics, but The Many and the Few demonstrates that Guicciardini’s contribution was a Trojan horse: it appeared to confirm this tradition even while affirming every aspect of Machiavelli's critique.
From his very first to very last texts, Guicciardini consistently embedded an alternate narrative in which he thoroughly embraced, and arguably exceeded, Machiavelli’s view of the innately positive qualities of the people and destructive qualities of the elites. Subsequent "republican" writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Madison, all claimed Guicciardini as one of the chief Renaissance exemplars of a longstanding tradition of aristocratic, senatorial politics, but The Many and the Few demonstrates that Guicciardini’s contribution was a Trojan horse: it appeared to confirm this tradition even while affirming every aspect of Machiavelli's critique.
Mark Jurdjevic is professor of history at York University and studies early modern Europe.
