They are both restrained by the executive power, as the executive is by the legislative.” Montesquieu, though he had great faith in the power of constitutions to mould the public character of a State, was nevertheless sufficiently aware of sociological necessity to see the importance of having the essential parts of the State as representative of different interests in society; and so he adapted the theory of mixed government to the underpinning of a system of divided powers, in order that the varying “passions and interests” of the different classes of society should ensure that no one man or group of men gained arbitrary power. To bring the two middle ones together as “executive” obscures the fact that in large areas of government activity those responsible for day-to-day government decisions will not be “executing the law,” but exercising a very wide discretion. That approach entails a type of government whose powers are not excessively centralized.
[20. Not only does he bridge the gap between early modern and later modern terminology, but he also obscures one of the basic problems of a threefold definition of government functions.
In Book VI he had developed his ideas about the judicial function in the differing forms of State. Insofar as monarchs got the support required, in return, they confirmed some rights or privileges for their subjects. Groups. [15. These control mechanisms did not constitute a “fusion” of powers; they were links between the branches of government, each restricted to the exercise of its appropriate function. ]He justifies this stability in the legislative and executive powers by declaring that “they are not exercised on any private subject.”. ]See W. F. Church, Constitutional Thought in Sixteenth-Century France, Harvard, 1941, esp. The executive officer ought to have a share in the legislative power by a veto over legislation, but he ought not to have the power to enter positively into the making of legislation. Hence, there is a need for specific limits for each power, which was summarized as follows. Essays Know first of all that there is no single answer to this question.
As I mentioned before, the separation of powers doctrine is a Western invention. That approach entails a type of government whose powers are not excessively centralized. Undoubtedly today his “monarchy” would be described as a despotism, if a benevolent one. Thus Montesquieu commenced his work with a description of the three different types of government, their nature and their principles, for if he could establish these, then the laws would “flow thence as from their source.”8 Let us look at the way in which Montesquieu dealt with this problem of the control of power. Absolute monarchies were a traumatic experience in Western Europe. It is clear, however, that Montesquieu did not invent the doctrine of the separation of powers, and that much of what he had to say in Book XI, Chapter 6 of the De l’Esprit des Loix was taken over from contemporary English writers, and from John Locke.1 Montesquieu, it is true, contributed new ideas to the doctrine; he emphasized certain elements in it that had not previously received such attention, particularly in relation to the judiciary, and he accorded the doctrine a more important position than did most previous writers. Etymologically, philosophy means love of wisdom. Anyways, Montesquieu’s main contribution to political theory was the way he considered the separation of powers as a checks and balances system.
Let’s take a look. Montesquieu is a Democrat, no doubt about it. The relevance of this to modern states is in any case rather slight, as Montesquieu believed that democracy was only suitable to small societies.12 The most extended treatment he gives of institutional checks to power, therefore, is to be found in his discussion of monarchy and of the English Constitution. This claim to scientific detachment gives to Montesquieu’s work a status that no political pamphleteer could claim. Montesquieu was very explicit when he set forth his reasons to uphold this model because he considered the way to guarantee political freedom. These conditions were a hindrance to power concentration in the region. What are the foundations of democracy in Montesquieu’s thought ? Whatever the results of this examination, the legislature should not be able to judge the person, or the conduct of the person, who executes the law.
