The Reason of State (Italian: Della Ragion di Stato) is a work of political philosophy by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Botero. The book first popularised the term Reason of State and became a political 'bestseller', going through 15 Italian editions and translations into Spanish, Latin and French in the late sixteenth and the seventeenth century. Botero's Reason of State was also translated into German as Johannis Boteri Grundlicher Bericht Anordnung guter Polizeien und Regiments (1596). Despite this success on the continent, Botero's Della Ragion di Stato was never published in England. However a little-known contemporary English manuscript translation exists in the British Library. Botero's treatise has been translated into English by P.J. and D.P. Waley with an introduction by D.P. Waley (London, 1956), and, more recently, by Robert Bireley (Cambridge, 2017).
The expression 'reason of state' denotes a way of thinking that about government that does agree fully with Botero's ideas. It emerged at the end of the fifteenth century and remained prevalent until the eighteenth century. Notwithstanding the criticism of Botero on fully amoral statecraft, it refers to the right of rulers to act in ways that go against the dictates of both natural and positive law with the aim of acquiring, preserving, and augmenting the dominion of the state.
Description
The book was first published in Venice in 1589, and is most notable for criticizing methods of statecraft associated with Niccolò Machiavelli and presenting economics as an aspect of politics. In the dedication of the 1589 edition of The Reason of State, Botero states his determined opposition to machiavellism. He traces the corruption of 16th century political discourse to the ideas advanced by Machiavelli. However, Botero does adopt aspects of Machiavelli's thought in The Reason of State. For instance, in 1590 Botero added a chapter to The Reason of State that advocates all European states join the Republic of Venice in a campaign to oust the Ottoman Empire from Europe. This appeal mirrors Machiavelli's own call to drive all foreigners out of Italy at the end of The Prince. Botero also expands upon Machiavelli's premise that men, not money, are more important for preserving a viable political regime. Where for Machiavelli men are crucial for their military valor, Botero proclaims that both a regime's population and its martial abilities are the most crucial resources at a ruler's disposal.
The Reason of State
Among the reasons that Botero put forward for writing his Della ragion di Stato, Botero refers to the popularity of (oral) discussions of reason of state in the European courts. While in France and Italy Botero noted that the term "reason of state" was frequently associated with Niccolò Machiavelli's political thought. By deciding to take part in these and other discussions, Botero uses a written and published form to retrieve the topic of reason of state from secrecy. Botero is the first promoter of a ‘good’ reason of state in which statesmen are responsible before their conscience. He impugns any notion of the reason of State that would be based on immorality, that is on constant transgression of God's prescriptions. The most significant point of departure from Machiavelli's intellectual 'shadow' concerns Botero's warm embrace and strong support of Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church in particular:
Botero and Religious Toleration
In essence, Botero asserts that piety, religion and Roman Catholicism are indispensable parts of any reason of state approach to governing.
Botero considers Roman Catholicism to be the foundation of virtuous behavior. He perceives Islam and the Protestant branch of Christianity as a threat to both the survival of Roman Catholicism and good governance in Europe. In The Reason of State, Botero connects a political regime's religious heterogeneity with civil unrest and civil war. He suggests that Christian rulers disincentivize the growth of new religions and religious branches by levying special taxes upon religious dissenters and prohibiting these dissenters from speaking or assembling freely or bearing arms. In extreme cases, Botero advocates that Christian rulers relocate entire populations of religious dissenters. Botero advocates that Christian monarchs implement policies similar to those adopted by the Ottoman Empire against religious minorities and by the Assyrian Empire against the Jewish people.