BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Separation of Powers

IMPORTANT FACTSReal name : Charles-Louis de Secondat/ born in 1689Attended a Catholic school and became a lawyerInherited his title from his uncleWrote a book called Persian Letters that criticized French society using humor (satire)

THE SPIRIT OF LAWSMontesquieu’s most famous bookDescribed his theory of government

and how it should be organizedBelieved that dividing power between three branches of government was the best way to protect political libertyCalled this concept ‘separation of powers”

QUOTES FROM MONTESQUIEU “A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.”“The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” “Were the executive power not to have a right of restraining the encroachments of the legislative body, the latter would become despotic; for as it might arrogate to itself what authority it pleased, it would soon destroy all the other powers.”

SEPARATION OF POWER

Legislative branch makes the laws.Executive branch enforces the laws.Judicial branch interpreted the laws. (Told what they mean.)No branch would be too powerful.Montesquieu admired the English government.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

Parliament made the laws, the king enforced them and the courts interpreted them. Each branch of government checked, or limited, the power of the others.If power was not divided this way, people would lose liberty quickly.Too much power for any one person is called despotism.

WHY MONTESQUIEU IS IMPORTANT

His ideas were a powerful influence on later thinkers.The U.S. Constitution reflects many of his ideas.Separation of powers is an important idea in our American system of government.