Montesquieu theory: summary

Throughout human history there have been a number of great thinkers who have managed to change the world of the time, being one of the most recognized Montesquieu. The French philosopher created an important theory during the Enlightenment, which has influenced much of today's democratic states. Because without this theory our world would not be as we know it today, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to offer you a summary of Montesquieu's theory.

To understand this lesson in which we offer you a summary of Montesquieu's theory, we must talk about Montesquieu's life and his thoughts and ideas.

Montesquieu's real name is Charles Louis de Secondat, lord de la Brède and baron de Montesquieu. He was the son of a family belonging to the toga nobility, a special class of French nobility that was achieved by obtaining a public office in the service of the king.

Montesquieu belonged to the intellectual current called Illustration, which lasted from the middle of the 18th century until the early years of the 19th century. Montesquieu is known as one of the great thinkers of this period, especially for the theory that we are going to talk about in this article.

His thinking was highly influenced by the French Enlightenment, so his thoughts coincide with other intellectuals of the time. Some of these ideas Characteristics of the French Enlightenment were the following:

• Tolerance towards religion
• Search for the freedom of happiness
• Everything that reason does not admit is invalid
• Belief that man is good by nature

The reason that Montesquieu is one of the most respected philosophers in history is because of his important theory on the separation of powers and different types of government. Its importance is so great that several countries have the ideas of Montesquieu in their Constitution. on the powers, serving as the foundation for some of the most powerful states in our world current.

Montesquieu speaks in his theory of three different powersof him, which we currently know as legislative, executive Y judicial. Taking care of the legislature to make laws, the executive to execute them and the judicial to enforce the laws and punish otherwise. As we can see, Montesquieu's division is more or less the same as we all know today.

Montesquieu thinks that depending on who governs these powers and how, society can be very different, modifying this different forms of government. The French philosopher then speaks of three types of form of government: the republic, the monarchy and the despotism.

The Republic according to Montesquieu

When power is in the hands of many people Montesquieu speaks of a republic, being of a democratic type when power is exercised by majority, or aristocratic type when it is exercised among fewer people but more qualified. Montesquieu defended that the principle of the republic is love of the country and equality between all, and it was this love for their country that made it more difficult for the republics to exist corruption.

The monarchy

As for the monarchy, Montesquieu defines it as a form of government where only one governs, but being subject to the laws. For this type of government it is necessary the existence of intermediate powers between the people and the monarchy, these being the nobility and the clergy. Regarding the principle that sustains the monarchy, Montesquieu speaks of honor, since he thinks that if the monarchs protect their honor they will not do anything bad against the people, and thus there would be no problems.

Despotism according to Montesquieu

Finally, there is despotism, a form of government that according to Montesquieu is based on the government of a single person without any type of control. The principle of despotism is terror, that is, if the people do not fear the governor, this system of government cannot exist.

After analyzing the forms of government, Montesquieu thinks that the best form of government is the monarchy, but one in which there are certain intermediate powers. The French philosopher also thought that a good government was one in which the powers of the state were divided, making it impossible for tyrants to exist.

Both the separation of powers and the different forms of government of Montesquieu were very important at the time, being a great change regarding the thoughts of other enlightened ones. Montesquieu's theory was very influential in history and his ideas can be seen in many elements of our world today, such as the Constitution of the United States.