BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Separation of Powers

IMPORTANT FACTS

Real name : Charles-

Louis de Secondat/ born

in 1689

Attended a Catholic

school and became a

lawyer

Inherited his title from

his uncle

Wrote a book called

Persian Letters that

criticized French society

using humor (satire)

THE SPIRIT OF LAWSMontesquieu’s most famous book

Described his theory of government

and how it should be organized

Believed that dividing power

between three branches of

government was the best way to

protect political liberty

Called 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.