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BARON DE MONTESQUIEU
Separation of Powers
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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)
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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”
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.