Corrupt people and good state in “Discourses” by Machiavelli

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Corrupt people and good state in “Discourses” by Machiavelli
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CORRUPT PEOPLE AND GOOD STATE IN “DISCOURSES” BY MACHIAVELLI
In section 18, Machiavelli says that laws cannot be counted on to reform corrupted people. Corrupt people are bad and spoilt citizens who live for their profit. They do not respect the law, and sometimes they adopt laws that enable them to become more corrupt. In a corrupt society, the rich become richer, and the poor become poorer. The rich seizes powers, and they do not allow people who will work for the benefit of the entire community come to power. In corrupt societies, power has the strongest and the richest, while the noble have abstained from being candidates because of fear. Therefore the community becomes worse because there is no opportunity or the possibility of the noble getting a chance.[Machiavelli, Niccolo. "Discourses on the first ten books of Titus Livius." (2015). #Pg 163]
Machiavelli talks about the transformation of the corrupt using laws as something that can be achieved and cannot be achieved. It is strange for a leader who came into power using a bad means to have good aims in the future. If such an individual can use such means to obtain power in the state, it also means such a person is also capable of using such means against the people of the state. From a moral point of view, the question is complex. Even if such leaders do good things when they come to power, they will not be able to govern for a long time for two reasons. First corrupt people will view the leader as corrupt, they will not support some of the reforms proposed towards the good virtue of the society, and they will overthrow the leader. Secondly, citizens will not believe that such a leader because they know it is impossible for a person to come to power through bad means and reform society. It is impossible for a corrupt person to come to power and serve good goals for the whole society. This is because it is versus the nature of that leader to do good things. Although such leaders will always try to obtain positive results, they will not make it because their understanding of good does not coincide with the universal on, so all the things they will do, will not be good.[Machiavelli, Niccolo. "Discourses on the first ten books of Titus Livius." (2015). #Pg 164]
Machiavelli states that if laws are to be maintained in order to stop corrupt people, then there is a need to have good customs. Also, institutions and laws that were made during the early days of a republic when men were good to tend to lose their purpose when these men become bad. In case laws of the state are changed, and there are no changes in these institutions, the result is that these new laws will remain ineffective because the institutions are corrupted. A perfect example of this case is the Roman government. In Rome, there was a constitution that was used to regulate the government, and there were laws that enable judges to keep citizens in order. The constitution regulating the government consisted of the authority that was vested in the people, the tribunes, and the legal procedures the consuls and the Senate. These institutions did not undergo any changes in the course of events, yet there were changes in the laws that kept people order. For example sumptuary law, adulter...