Montesquieus Success

Jessica Cannon
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In this essay I seek to discuss Montesquieus successes and influence on governments in
The Enlightenment Era and in governments today. The Enlightenment Era was a European
intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason and wisdom.
During this time, 1685-1815, European politics, philosophy, science and communications were
reoriented. Montesquieu is one of the many philosophes of the Enlightenment, others are John
Locke, Voltaire, Thomas Hobbes and Newton. These lovers of wisdom produced essays, books
and scientific laws that further enhanced Enlightenment ideals. Montesquieu produced many
books and new ways of governing during the Enlightenment. I argue that Montesquieu was the
most influential philosophe during the Enlightenment. I will prove this by discussing the three
branches of government, defining liberty, and describing The Spirit of Laws.
First, I will analyze Montesquieus discovery of three branches of government.
Montesquieu influenced the US Constitution with his idea of the three branches of government
and separation of powers. The three branches of government Montesquieu introduced are
judicial, executive, and legislative which are used in the United Sates government today. Due to
these three branches, the government keeps a separation of powers through the process of checks
and balances. According to ncsl.org, Under his model, the political authority of the state is
divided into legislative, executive and judicial powers. He asserted that, to most effectively
promote liberty, these three powers must be separate and acting independently. Separation of
powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to
limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another. The intent is to prevent the
concentration of power and provide for checks and balances. The legislative branch enacts the

laws of the state, the executive branch is responsible for implementing the public policy funded
by the legislative branch, and the judicial branch interprets the constitution and laws. Without
Montesquieus political discoveries, governments would have been endangered by abuses of
power.
Second, I will examine Montesquieus definition of liberty in his book Spirit of Laws.
Montesquieu defined liberty in his book The Spirit of Laws and according to the adaptations by
stanford.edu defined liberty as, Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever we want: if we have
the freedom to harm others, for instance, others will also have the freedom to harm us, and we
will have no confidence in our own safety. Liberty involves living under laws that protect us
from harm while leaving us free to do as much as possible, and that enable us to feel the greatest
possible confidence that if we obey those laws, the power of the state will not be directed against
us. Montesquieu states that in order for a government to ensure its citizens liberty it must do
three things. The first, is that the government must have a separation of power through the three
branches of government. If there are not three branches of government then nothing can stop one
person from abusing his or hers power and behaving like a tyrant, which will cause people to
have no confidence in their safety. The second duty of the government to uphold liberty is,
according to stanford.edu, Liberty also requires that the laws concern only threats to public
order and security, since such laws will protect us from harm while leaving us free to do as many
other things as possible. Thus, for instance, the laws should not concern offenses against God,
since He does not require their protection. Laws cannot be vague because people will not
understand whether or not a certain action is a crime. Lastly, laws should make it as simple as
possible for a person to prove his or hers innocence. Montesquieu believed that there needs to be
an emphasis on liberty and the details of criminal law.

Lastly, I will investigate Montesquieus published book Spirit of Laws. Montesquieu

published the Spirit of Laws in 1748, the book discussed forms of government, liberty, climate
and geography, commerce, and religion. The goal of this book is to explain social institutions and
human laws according to stanford.edu and Spirit of Laws. This might seem like an impossible
project: unlike physical laws, which are, according to Montesquieu, instituted and sustained by
God, positive laws and social institutions are created by fallible human beings who are
subject ... to ignorance and error, [and] hurried away by a thousand impetuous passions" (SL
1.1). One might therefore expect our laws and institutions to be no more comprehensible than
any other catalog of human follies, an expectation which the extraordinary diversity of laws
adopted by different societies would seem to confirm.
Montesquieu was an influential philosophe whom influenced the Enlightenment Era and
the constitution today. He helped politicians better understand the people they were governing
through his work, Spirit of Laws. This in turn led politicians to make their laws based peoples
interactions, wants, and needs. Montesquieus creation of the three branches of government still
protects us today from one person having too much power leading to an abuse of power. His
theory of the separation of powers had a colossal impact on the framers of the United States
Constitution and political theory. Montesquieus various works influenced governments today
and governments of the Enlightenment Era. Due to Montesquieus vast influence on politics, he
is the most successful and influential philosophe of the Enlightenment Era. One of
Montesquieus famous quotes refers to the separation of powers, There is no greater tyranny
than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.