“A prince ought also to show himself a patron of ability, and to honour the proficient in every art. At the same time he should encourage his citizens to practise their callings peaceably, both in commerce and agriculture, and in every other following, so that the one should not be deterred from improving his possessions for fear lest they be taken away from him or another from opening up trade for fear of taxes; but the prince ought to offer rewards to whoever wishes to do these things and designs in any way to honour his city or state.”

I agree with Machiavelli’s opinion that it is very important to encourage citizens to practice their callings without fears of plunder from government. In contemporary US politics, government works hard to protect citizen’s property right and legitimate income, in order to encourage the nongovernmental business and lead them to the continuing development. The passage is useful for someone who is running for office in US today because Machiavelli advocates that a true leader should not only have coercive power but also reward power. I believe that when you have the ability to give someone something that they want or need, then you have tremendous power to influence them. A prince ought to give citizens what they need to be prosperous, because when people’s standard of livings is improved, he will certainly gain supports from the citizens. That way, conspirators have “the people for an enemy, and thus cannot hope for any escape”(Chapter 19), the country will also be more stabilized and powerful.