PATIENT
The Spirit of the Laws
AUTHOR
Montesquieu (1689–1755)
TRANSLATION
Nugent (1758 ed.)
THIS GUIDE
Selected: about a tenth
CHIEF COMPLAINT
What keeps a government from becoming a tyranny?
HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS
A French nobleman and judge spent twenty years on a comparative study of laws and governments. The founders cited him constantly; Madison called him 'the oracle who is always consulted and cited.' This guide is selected, not complete, by a stated rule: the three forms of government, the size of republics, liberty and the separation of powers, and the chapters on slavery.
REVIEW OF SYSTEMS
THREE GOVERNMENTS
Republic, monarchy, despotism, with principles of virtue, honor and fear.
SIZE
He thought republics had to be small. Madison argued the reverse.
LIBERTY
The right to do whatever the laws permit, and the security of not fearing another.
SEPARATION
Liberty is lost when legislative, executive and judicial powers are united.
SLAVERY
He argues it is against natural law, with satire, and some climate-based exceptions.
PHYSICAL EXAM — STYLE & STRUCTURE
- —He did not invent the separation of powers. Aristotle, Polybius and Locke had versions of it.
- —He did not say the branches must be sealed off. Madison's Federalist No. 47 answers that point.
- —His picture of the English constitution was an idealization.
- —The Anti-Federalists used his 'small republic' argument against the Constitution.
ASSESSMENT & PLAN
Read Book XI chapter 6 first. Every claim is tagged Settled, Disputed or Popular myth with a source, and the live argument (strict separation vs fusion) shows both sides at equal length in the full Study Guide.