machiavelli, one the greatest of political philosophers of all time, was a proponent of realpolitik. for machiavelli, moral values have no place in the decisions rulers must make and rulers must be prepared to commit evil if they must. since in a democracy the people are the rulers (from ancient greek demos "people" kratos "rule"), in a democracy there is no place for morality in politics and the people should use deception and violence when necessary to achieve their political goals.
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