The Reason of State

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For the political concept, see National interest.

The Reason of State (Italian: Della Ragion di Stato) is a work of political philosophy by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Botero. It was first published in Venice in 1589, and is most notable for criticizing methods of statecraft associated with Machiavelli and presenting economics as an aspect of politics.

[edit] Notable quotes

• "A glance at the works of these two authors [Machiavelli and Tacitus] showed me that Machiavelli bases his Reason of State on lack of conscience and that Tiberius justified his cruelty and tyranny by an inhuman lex maiestatis and in other ways that would not have been tolerated by the most humble of women, still less by Romans, had not Cassius been the last of the Romans." -from the dedication

• "A people must bestow upon their ruler such powers as are necessary for him maintain laws among them and defend them against the violence of their enemies: and he for his part, content with these powers, must not oppress his subjects with new taxes disproportionate to their means nor permit greedy ministers to increase the amount of ordinary taxation or to extort it by cruel methods. For when a people is burdened beyond its resources, either they leave the country of turn against the ruler or go over to an enemy power." - from Book I, chapter 14: "On justice between the king and the subjects"