Machiavelli and the politics of democratic innovation This book critically reevaluates the political thought of Niccolò Machiavelli demonstrating the extent to which he can be seen to formulate a unique ethical foundation for democratic practice that is grounded in the creative orientation of all individuals Introduction Part one: Methodology Machiavelli and the constellative move of historical appropriation Part two: Philosophical Anthropology The contingency of being: on worldly and human indetermination Politics and the human essence: The prince as a model of human subjectivity Part three: Political Ontology Ambition and the people: the popular form of the desire for creation Social equality and the contingent being of the great Institutionalizing ambitious expression: the republic as the self overcoming regime