Research and Development in Public Law

Research and Development in Public Law

Conceptual Opposition or Strategic Interaction between the Rights to Liberty and Security in Machiavellian Thought

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Aliakbar Gorji Azandriani 1
Nima Safikhani 2
Aref Esmailzadeh 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Criminal law and criminology, Faculty of Law and Theology, Islamic Azad University, Department of Science and Research, Tehran
10.22034/jrpl.2025.2067630.1171
Abstract
The tension between two fundamental rights—liberty and security—remains one of the most prominent and controversial issues in political philosophy and public law. This conceptual opposition has gained renewed urgency in light of emerging global crises such as terrorism, pandemics, migration waves, and the resurgence of authoritarianism. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the place of liberty and security in the political thought of Niccolò Machiavelli by focusing on his two seminal works: The Prince and Discourses on Livy. Using a qualitative, content-based methodology centered on key political-legal themes, the research seeks to determine whether Machiavelli promotes an absolute hierarchy between these rights or conceives of their relationship as contextual, fluid, and regime-dependent.

The findings demonstrate that in The Prince, Machiavelli presents security as the foundation of political authority and the condition for survival under crisis. Liberty is portrayed as subordinate to political stability and largely dependent on the consolidation of power. Conversely, in Discourses, liberty is not only treated as a civic virtue but also as a structural necessity for sustaining a republican order. Here, Machiavelli emphasizes the role of institutional balance, citizen participation, and rule of law in securing a functional equilibrium between liberty and security.

From Machiavelli’s perspective, liberty and security are not inherently antagonistic but exist in a dialectical and situational relationship. In unstable or corrupt regimes, the primacy of security may be justified, whereas in legally grounded and participatory systems, liberty becomes integral to long-term security. This reading challenges reductive interpretations of Machiavelli as a purely authoritarian thinker and instead positions him as a realist strategist of political order, concerned with designing sustainable models of governance that harmonize restrained liberty and participatory security.

By bridging the theoretical gap between Machiavelli’s two major works, this article offers a more nuanced and balanced interpretation of his legacy and opens the way for applying classical political insights to contemporary debates about governance, crisis management, and democratic resilience.
Keywords
Machiavelli
Right to Liberty
Right to Security
The Prince
Political Philosophy
Subjects
Askari Hassan, Sh., Anousheh, E., & Omrani, N. S. (2016). The concept of security from the perspectives of realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical theory. Iranian Policy Research Journal, 4(1), 81–103. (Persian)
Baron, H. (1961). Machiavelli: The Republican Citizen and the Author of 'The Prince'. The English Historical Review, 76(299), 217-253.
Bayat Komitaki, M., & Enjelasi, K. (2024). Right and interest: The image of balance. Journal of Research and Development in Public Law, 1(1), 110–142. https://doi.org/10.22034/jrpl.2025.720743[Persian]
Benner, E. (2017). 6. The Necessity to Be Not- Good: Machiavelli’s Two Realisms. In D. Johnston, N. Urbinati & C. Vergara (Ed.), Machiavelli on Liberty and Conflict (pp. 164-185). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226429441-007
Borburi, Kh. (2020). The evolution of the concept of freedom in the political thought of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 8th National Conference on Management and Humanities Research in Iran, Tehran. https://civilica.com/doc/1114306 (Persian)
Chabod, F. (1960). Machiavelli and the Renaissance: Federico Chabod... Translated from the Italian by David Moore... Introduction by AP D'Entrèves... Mass..
Chabod, F. (1965). Machiavelli and the Renaissance. (D. Moore, Trans.). London: Bowes & Bowes.
Coby, J. P. (2021). Machiavelli on liberty. In Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy: New Readings (pp. 61-80). Brill.‏
Curry, P. (2015). Introducing Machiavelli: A Graphic Guide. Icon Books Ltd.
Del Lucchese, F. (2015). The Political Philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli. Edinburgh University Press
Gilbert, F. (1965). Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixteenth-Century Florence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hoipkemier, M. (2018). Machiavelli and the double politics of ambition. Political Studies, 66(1), 245-260.‏
Hosseini Karabi, S. M., Emami, M., & Rasekh, M. (2022). Epistemic concepts of public law in the justice theory of Qadi Abd al-Jabbar al-Mu‘tazili. Epistemological Studies in the Islamic University, 26(3), 513–532. https://doi.org/10.22034/ksiu.2022.92.513 (Persian)
Lal Alizadeh, M. (2016). A study and comparison of the relationship between freedom and security in the political thought of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Existence and Cognition, 3(2), 85–106. https://doi.org/10.22096/ek.2017.32549 (Persian)
Lal Alizadeh, Mohammad. (2016). Study and comparison of the relationship between freedom and security in the political thought of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Scientific publication of the Ministry of Science.
Machiavelli, N. (2022). The prince (D. Ashouri, Trans.) [Persian translation]. Agah Publishing. (Original work published 1513)
Machiavelli, N. (2024). The discourses (M. H. Lotfi, Trans.). Kharazmi Publishing. (Original work published 1531)
Mansourabadi, A., & Mansourabadi, A. (2025). The rule of law and the principle of legality of criminal law. Journal of Research and Development in Public Law, 2(3), 348–382. https://doi.org/10.22034/jrpl.2025.2055691.1139 [Persian]
Mirarab, M. (2000). A brief look at the concept of security. Civilica. https://civilica.com/doc/1748484 (Persian)
Mir-Arab, Mehrdad. (2018). A Glimpse into the Concept of Security, Quarterly Journal of Political Sciences.
Mohseni, R. A. (2010). Dimensions and analysis of citizenship rights: Strategies for educating and training citizenship rights. Civilica. https://civilica.com/doc/1815101 (Persian)
 Mohseni, Reza Ali. (2010). Dimensions and Analysis of Citizenship Rights; Strategies for Education. Quarterly Journal of Political Studies
Osborne, T. (2017). Machiavelli and the liberalism of fear. History of the human sciences, 30(5), 68-85.‏
Pococke, J. G. A. (1975). The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rasekh, M., & Karami Kataki, F. (2024). The sacred city: The confrontation between neo-traditionalism and the foundations of modern public law. Comparative Research in Islamic and Western Law, 11(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.22091/org.2024.2504.10413 (Persian)
Ridolfi, R. (1963). The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli. (C. Grayson, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Salzborn, S. (2015). No Sovereignty without Freedom: Machiavelli, Hobbes and the Global Order in the Twenty-first Century. Theoria, 62(144), 19-39.‏
Skinner, Q. (1981). Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Skinner, Q. (1983). Machiavelli on the Maintenance of Liberty. Politics, 18(2), 3-15.
Viroli, M. (1998). Machiavelli. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zahumenna, Y. O. (2023). Niccolo Machiavelli’s views on public security. Law and Safety, 91(4), 119-128. https://doi.org/10.32631/pb.2023.4.10
Research and Development in Public Law
Volume 2, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
February 2026
Pages 246-273