Jose Luiz Ames
The article develops the thesis that the excessive desire of the powerful for absolute domination is opposed by an equally excessive and absolute desire from the people not to be dominated. These desires are of distinct natures; they neither strive for the same things nor for different things, but differ fundamentally in the act of desiring. Each desire aims at its absolute effectiveness, attempting to impose itself universally: the powerful toward absolute domination and the people toward complete liberty. Each seeks to impose its will on the political body. These desires sustain themselves through their heterogeneity and pursue ends that, if realized, would lead to the collapse of collective life. Effective institutions and laws ensure liberty by preventing either the powerful or the people from fulfilling their desires or abandoning their own desires to adopt the others'. Despite inscribing the order of law within the disorder of dissent, Machiavelli rejected the notion of institutional order as a definitive solution to dissent. Consequently, no law or institution can permanently resist the risk of corruption, necessitating periodic returns to origins—the experience of original violence that, by exposing men to risks, restores the initial reputation and strength of States and institutions.