Machiavellis Political Philosophy and Jamaican PoliticsAuthor: AR RobinsonObjective: The objective of the paper is to analyze the impact that Machiavellianism has had on Jamaican politics. Machiavellianism is the belief that having power is the basis of legitimacy and not the morality of the leader. This is a relevant topic as this philosophy has been expressed throughout Jamaican history.

Content: The main philosophical argument of my work is that this philosophy has undermined Jamaican politics because its emphasis on power at the expense of morality has led to stagnation, corruption and neo-colonialism. My sources of information are Machiavellis The Prince, historical texts, journal articles, newspapers, and a priori reasoning.

Results: My findings are that this came to be the case as Jamaica failed to come up with a relevant political philosophy after independence but largely copied Britain, thus leading to the Machiavellian drive for power as being the only real motive. It follows then that an understanding of Machiavelli is vital to the crafting of legislation and policies to counter Machiavellian politics. I would conclude that Jamaican politics needs to be reinvented in order for us to experience true prosperity with the use of Machiavellian thought.

Key terms: Machiavelli, is/ought distinction, Westminster system, moralism, legitimacy, power, authority