The Spirit of the Laws and the Separation of Powers

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A French baron who studied the laws of dozens of societies concluded that liberty depends on one thing: power checking power.

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Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws (1748) was a vast comparative study of how laws relate to a society's climate, religion, commerce, customs and form of government. He classified governments as republics, guided by civic virtue; monarchies, guided by honor and limited by fixed laws and intermediate bodies such as nobles and courts; and despotisms, ruled by fear.

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His most famous argument, drawn from his reading of England, was that liberty survives only when legislative, executive and judicial powers are held by different hands, so that 'power checks power'. Montesquieu was a nobleman who valued the French parlements as brakes on royal power, and some historians see his work as a defense of aristocratic privilege as well as liberty. His ideas about climate shaping character are now rejected as deterministic. Still, the separation of powers profoundly influenced constitution-makers in America and France.

Key facts

Remember these

1The Spirit of the Laws was published in Geneva in 1748.
2Montesquieu identified three types of government: republic, monarchy and despotism.
3His chapter on the English constitution describes separating legislative, executive and judicial power.
4The book was placed on the Catholic Church's Index of Prohibited Books in 1751.

Timeline

When it happened

1729
Montesquieu begins a stay in England of about two years.
1748
The Spirit of the Laws is published in Geneva.
1751
The book is placed on the Index of Prohibited Books.
1788
Federalist No. 47 cites Montesquieu on separating powers.

Places to know

Where it happened

Geneva
46.20° N, 6.14° E
La Brède, Montesquieu's estate
44.70° N, 0.56° W

Then & Now

Systems in which legislatures, executives and courts check one another are often traced back to Montesquieu's analysis.

Mind = blown

Montesquieu worked on the book for about two decades; with failing eyesight, he relied on secretaries to read sources to him and take dictation.

Question 1 of 3

According to Montesquieu, what principle sustains a despotism?

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Question 2 of 3

Why did Montesquieu argue powers should be separated?

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Question 3 of 3

Which interpretation offers a more critical reading of Montesquieu's motives?

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