Michelle T. Clarke

Michelle T. Clarke serves as Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, where she specializes in the history of political thought with particular expertise in Machiavelli, Roman political thought, and Renaissance political theory. Her academic home is within the Government Department, where she teaches courses including Political Ideas, Roman Political Thought, Plutarch's Guide to Leadership, and Power and Statecraft in the Ancient World.

Professor Clarke's research centers on the history of political thought, with special emphasis on how classical ideas transitioned into the modern world. Her work explores fundamental questions about liberty, examining what it means to be free, how true freedom is won and lost, and why maintaining freedom proves perpetually challenging. She approaches political theory with a commitment to engaging with 'the messy, inconvenient, and often distasteful realities of political life,' drawing connections between Machiavelli's insights and contemporary political challenges. Her scholarship demonstrates how political theory must guide us through complex political realities rather than abstracting from them.

Clarke's scholarly contributions include her acclaimed monograph Machiavelli's Florentine Republic (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which reconstructs Machiavelli's analysis of republican vulnerability through his Florentine Histories. Her recent articles examine Cicero's political thought, Epicureanism in Roman philosophy, and Machiavelli's literary works. Her research reveals consistent patterns connecting ancient political thought to modern republican theory, with particular attention to how conventional moral and political virtues can become instruments of political ambition in free societies.

Professor Clarke earned her Ph.D., M. Phil., and M.A. from Yale University and her B.A. from Tufts University. Her work has received significant recognition in the field, with scholars praising her 'clear-sighted, savvy, and compelling interpretation' that 'establishes Machiavelli's critical evaluation of his city's republican government.' Her current book project, The Oxford History of Political Thought: The Renaissance, 1400-1517, is under contract and will further contribute to the field.