Machiavelli reasoned elliptically from unified France and Spain to general state rules

Evidence

Machiavelli is influenced by the examples of France and Spain, which have achieved as states a strong territorial unity; he makes an “elliptic comparison” (to use Croce’s expression) and deduces the rules for a strong State in general and a strong Italian State in particular. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 639

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gramsci’s ‘elliptic comparison’ names a recurring critical-theory move: deriving general prescriptions by extrapolating from existing exemplary cases.