Luo Lei–A Machiavellian Prince?

In Harvey Mansfield’s introduction to The Prince, he writes “The essence of politics is that ‘you can get away with murder’: that no divine sanction, or degradation of soul, or twinge of conscience will come to punish you.” Such views are extremely apt to the 2007 documentary “Please Vote for Me”. In fact, Machiavelli would agree with Luo Lei’s coming to power–is Luo Lei a Machiavellian prince? Luo Lei’s successful election rests upon his (or more so, his parent’s) ability to understanding his opponents and the “political atmosphere” of the primary school. In the middle of the documentary, Cheng Cheng manages to swerve the voters’ opinions on his opponents (Xiaofei and Luo Lei), resulting in his being a frontrunner for the class monitor position.  When Luo Lei wants to quit, his parents suggest that he take the entire class on the monorail to “show off” and “improve [his] relationship with [his] classmates.” The classes trip to the monorail places Luo Lei in a popular standing, one above Cheng Cheng. Machiavelli would agree with this “virtuous” act. Machiavelli views the ordinary people as simple beings, individuals that will either like or dislike the Prince. Luo Lei manages to find himself in the good graces of his voters while simultaneously asserting his dominance as the son of the director of the police department. In bringing his classmates to the monorail, Luo Lei also diminishes Cheng Cheng’s criticisms of him. Through this small, seemingly innocent act, Luo Lei manages to gain popularity, assert dominance, and fight the threat of foreign power—all aspect Machiavelli would condone. To counter this act, Cheng Cheng and Xiaofei join forces to “expose” Luo Lei’s tyrannical acts. Does it work? Although Luo Lei seems to be a violent tyrants, he still manages to receive the most votes. As the teacher in the documentary says, “[the students] are the master of [their] own choice.” But, why did Luo Lei win after his opponents expose his amoral behavior? Something about Luo Lei’s leadership style was appealing enough for the students to vote for him as class monitor for the third year in a row. It would be hard to argue that voter-fraud occurred in this elementary school class. Luo Lei won because democracy took place. Luo Lei won the majority of the vote despite Cheng Cheng’s and Xiaofei’s attempts to poison the public against him. The majority of his classmates saw him as the best possible option. Did you?

21 thoughts on “Luo Lei–A Machiavellian Prince?

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  7. The fact that Machiavelli is so easily evoked in observing the successful Luo Lei campaign serves as an ironic subversion of the premise of the documentary series. Asked “Why Democracy?”, Machiavelli could easily respond, “who said anything about democracy?” That Luo Lei embodies qualities Machiavelli would recommend in the governing politics of an undemocratic principality centuries before the very concept of nation states (the liberal democratic kind and otherwise) came into vogue suggests that the practices of electoral politics in democratic systems do not necessarily reflect the ideals of (liberal) democracy. Because the election process is not designed to provide checks against pre-existing inequities – the unequal resources each candidate has due to their socioeconomic class, the combination of bribes and threats Lei wields as an incumbent, and patriarchal socialization that privileges aggressive masculine charisma and marginalizes Xiaofei before she can even make her case – those inequities are reproduced by a democratic political system. A process that presumes itself to be just because it is equally applied interacts with an inequitable playing field, and thus a candidate who seems to have Machiavellian sensibilities and authoritarian instincts is rewarded with electoral success. Democracy may be a valid normative goal, but only because it increases the potential for justice, and democratic systems must be held accountable for their shortcomings when they produce injustice; even if the individual election was legitimate, the structural factors that produced an illiberal outcome should be addressed.

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