•MONTESQUIEU

• Montesquieu’s concern or focus.

• Montesquieu’s philosophy “The laws of Social and Historical Development”.
“The Spirit of the Laws”.
• Montesquieu followed the philosophy of his time.
• According to him something produced order.
• Human beings never operate on a whim, there was some higher
orchestration.
Situations were caused, for example, problems
with our environment are caused; rainfall can
cause floods, especially when canals are
blocked.
History is the outcome of principles or laws which
comes from other laws.
By examining facts, we can arrive at a general
understanding.
By associating (sociation) one thing with
another, we can come to an understanding of
 causes, for example, a blown tire – result! an
accident; the cause may have been neglect of
servicing the vehicle.
Things do not just happen there is a set of causal
factors; therefore we ought to search for those
principles.
Situations are caused, for example, a heart attack
can be caused by blood clots.
• In all of human history there is the conception of
the ideal.
Ideal types are static forms which we can employ
in our study of social structures, for example,
equitable education. Some relationships fail
because of the ideal for such relationships.
• this ideal type is an indispensable intellectual
cognitive tool by which we come to make sense
of what would have been incomprehensible.
(Thoughts similar to that of Max Weber)
• All of us have a conception of what is ideally the
best. This is a value that produces change or
generates progress; by striving to reach or
achieve an ideal, for example, graduating from
UG as against failing and continuing, than giving
up.
Montesquieu forms of government
 Republic
 Monarchy
 Aristocracy
 Despotism
 Democracy
 They are not accidental aggregates (collective –
the whole sum or amount), rather they accept
certain principles or laws.
 There is something deeper beneath every
principle.
 What values underlie what.
 Once the values or principles are analyzed then
you can differentiate, for example if you analyze
forms of democracy in different countries, you
will find that they are not the same; there are
variations;
 forms of government are adopted to suit the
specific country, whether small or large; for
example, there is Eastern and Western
Democracy, Non-Alignment, social Democracy;
Democratic Centralism.
 A system of laws or values always gives way to a
particular form.
 A manifestation of Democratic Centralism –
paramountcy of the party is covertly included.
 A meritocracy – Unbiased.
 All institutions which make up a society share an
interdependence and correlated relationship to
each other,
 that relationship is also impacted upon by the
whole (functionalism), for example, unequally
yoked unions in the church (forms of marriage)
political institutions; education and justice.
Democracies can be corrupted in two ways:
1. "the spirit of inequality"
2. "the spirit of extreme equality"

The spirit of inequality- arises when citizens no

longer identify their interests with the interests of
their country, and therefore seek both to advance
their own private interests at the expense of their
fellow citizens, and to acquire political power over
them.
The spirit of extreme equality- arises when the
people are no longer content to be equal as
citizens, but want to be equal in every respect.
 The functions of the government are vast and
varied.
 It is necessary to entrust these functions to
specific organs.
 So responsibility for performing these functions
may be effectively fixed.
The division of governmental power under any
constitution may be of two kinds:
THE THEORY OF SEPARATION OF POWERS
Montesquieu believed that the functions and
powers of government should be divided among
three separate branches in order to keep powers in
check.
1. The functional division
 Legislative
 Executive
 Judicial
2. The Territorial Division
 Federalism
According to Montesquieu certain arrangements
make it easier for the three powers to check one
another
(i) The Legislative power alone should have the power
to tax
(ii)The executive power should have the right to veto
acts of the legislature.
(iii) The Judiciary should be independent of both the
legislator and the executive.

 He believed that the application of this theory would

prevent the overgrowth of a particular organ which spells
Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever we
want. If we have the freedom to harm others
they will also have the freedom to harm us.

Liberty involves living under laws that protect us

from harm while leaving us free to do as much as
possible.
 According to him every man entrusted with
some power is apt to abuse it…. “It is necessary
from the very nature of things, that power
should be a check to power.”

 When the executive and the legislative powers are

given to the same person there can be no liberty.
Advantages

i) Separation of powers according to Montesquieu

is the best guarantee for the liberty of people.

ii) Separation of power promotes efficiency in the

administration.
Criticism
i) Complete separation of powers is neither
possible nor desirable.

ii) Separation of powers is likely to lead to

inefficiency in administration.
iii. The theory is based on the supposition that all
three organs of the government are equally
important, but in reality it is not so.

iv) Liberty of the people largely depends more on

factors like their psyche, political culture,
consciousness, and institutions than separation of
• The whole society impacts on each other
individually or collectively

• there is reciprocity

• All social systems can be understood by doing

analysis (going deeper) to see what causes
something.
• There are varying forms or situations: abuse,
dictatorship, democracy etc.
Justice – what is defined as justice?
 
• we must operationalize (specify) the concept to
see forms of its manifestation, for example, if we
are making reference to UG students, we have to
remember that there are different forms: there
are different Faculties; different Departments;
different disciplines; different courses; different
years.
• We have to explain what we mean or place it in its
context.
• There must be system of checks and balances that
will allow us to enjoy the distribution of power.
• Each branch of government could serve as a check
on the other two.
• It is the role of the public and the role of
government.
• Government has the right to protect and the people
have the right to oppose so that freedom is
preserved.
SPIRIT OF THE LAW THEORY
 laws should be adapted "to the people for whom
they are framed...,
 to the nature and principle of each government,
 to the climate of each country,
 the quality of its soil,
 its situation and extent,
 the principal occupation of the natives, whether
husbandmen, huntsmen or shepherds: they should
have relation to the degree of liberty which the
constitution will bear.
 the religion of the inhabitants,
 their inclinations,
 riches,
 numbers,
 commerce,
 manners,
 customs.
HE BELIEVED THAT
• cold climate constricts our bodies' fibers, and causes
coarser juices to flow through them.
• Heat, by contrast, expands our fibers, and produces
more rarefied juices.
• These physiological changes affect our characters.
• cold climates are vigorous and bold,
• frank, and not given to suspicion or cunning.
• They are relatively insensitive to pleasure and pain;
• Those who live in warm climates have stronger but
less durable sensations.
• They are more fearful, more amorous, and more
susceptible both to the temptations of pleasure and
to real or imagined pain;
•but they are less resolute, and less capable of
sustained or decisive action.
• A hot climate can make slavery comprehensible.
The quality of a country's soil affects the form of its
government.
• Monarchies are more common where the soil is
fertile,
•Republics where it is barren.
• These realities do not only impact on the forms of
society, but vice versa.
• forms of society impact on the institutions, for
example, single parent and school – impact of the
family on the teacher and impact of the teacher on
the family.
Montesquieu power distribution in society
• power should be distributed among
individuals and groups in society to provide
for maximal freedom.
• Individuals are not free because they have
natural rights or revolt in times of
oppression, they are free to the extent that
power is distributed or organized to prevent
or at least minimize its abuse.
Age of Reason, thinkers fought against
superstition, ignorance, intolerance and tyranny.
Enlightenment thinkers promoted goals of
material well-being, social justice, and worldly
happiness.
• Their ideas differed from the old principles of
divine-right rule, a rigid social hierarchy, and the
promise of a better life in heaven.
• Scientific successes relied on the power of
reason. Since people used reason to find laws
that governed the physical world, why not use
reason to discover natural laws – laws that
govern human nature.
• The Enlightenment thinkers, thought that
through the use of reason, they could solve
every social, political, and economic problem.
Materialism
• Reality is material and matter alone is real –
material reality could be understood in
terms of material things as against
teleological thinking – divine authority or
religion
 Martin Luther was instrumental in the break
with the Catholic Church and the formation of
the Protestant group.
 The break put Catholics against Protestants and
subsequently lead to the great European Civil
War.
 The reformation had both political and religious
implications resulting in the modern nation state.
There were two groups:
 Royalists who defended absolute power of the
monarch in religious affairs
 the Puritans who wanted limited power of the
monarchy.
The puritans wanted purification in the
organization of ceremonies.
During the Civil War the Royalist of England
supported the king and the Puritans who
supported Parliament.
The upheavals impacted on the writings of Thomas
Hobbes who was born during that era, hence his
“Fear and I were born Twins”.