Good government is defined by the competing values of efficiency and effectiveness and is dependent on quality leadership. Niccolo Machiavelli's treatise, The Prince and Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows the Game, written by journalist and commentator, Chris Matthews are two books that explain the art of leadership from a political perspective. The Prince was initially published posthumously in 1531-1532. While working for the Soderini government, Machiavelli began to analyze his …showed first 75 words of 3404 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3404 total…other places (77). Through the use of multiple examples that have occurred throughout the world's history, both Machiavelli and Matthews enable the reader to see the tactics that rulers and politicians use to get ahead in government most successfully. From reading both The Prince and Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows the Game, one learns that the world is all politics and only those who know how to play "hardball" will survive.