Kautilya's Maxims
11
The Size of the Council
(ArS 1/15:47-50)

Followers of Manu: He should appoint a council of twelve ministers.

Followers of Brhaspati: Sixteen.

Followers of Usanas: Twenty.

Kautilya: According to their capacity.

Remembering Maxim #10, these prescriptions are apparently meant for a pool of expert managers, from three or four of whom advice is sought on a particular occasions. Kautilya avoids a fixed rule and focuses on the practical issue, which is the amount of relevant expertise available for inclusion.

The previous authorities seem to reflect the usual course of an expanding early bureaucracy, with its need for ever more precise expertise. The drift toward governmental expertise is resisted in LY 13:4 (c0322). The classic statement of the expansion principle is Parkinson 33f.

 

Kautilya's Maxims is Copyright © 2001- by E Bruce and A Taeko Brooks

Contact The Project / To Overview / Exit to Kautilya Page