The State in Early Modern Political Thought

This article reviews the XVI century political theory, in order to provide a bird's eye view of the reflection on political obligation during the emergence of the state. It departs from the thesis that the Machiavellian political teaching organises the understanding and the critic of the emerging state, and procedes by means of an account of the perspectives of the monarchomachs, the voluntary servidude, and the so called politiques.