BEYOND POLITICAL REALISM: STATE POWER, POLITICAL ETHICS, AND PUBLIC WELFARE IN KAUTILYA’S ARTHASHASTRA

Abstract

Kautilya’s Arthashastra is often read as a classic of political realism because of its attention to power, security, intelligence, diplomacy, and strategic calculation. A purely power-centred reading, however, can obscure its treatment of administration, economic conditions, and the ruler’s responsibilities toward the population. This article examines how political effectiveness, public welfare, and normative legitimacy relate in the Arthashastra. Through philosophical textual analysis and critical engagement with scholarship, it argues that Kautilya’s statecraft can be read as institutionally grounded political realism: political stability is linked to administrative capacity and the social and economic conditions of the population. Yet welfare does not automatically legitimate power; coercion, manipulation, and hierarchy remain open to criticism. A limited comparison with Machiavelli clarifies the usefulness and limits of realist interpretations. The article offers a three-part framework for distinguishing effectiveness, welfare, and legitimacy in comparative political philosophy.