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Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Charles-Louis de Secondat was born at La Brède, near Bordeaux, France in 1689. He inherited baronial titles from both sides of his family. His mother held the title Baroness de la Brède, and he inherited the title Baron de Montesquieu on the death of his paternal uncle on condition he take his name.
Montesquieu was given an extensive private education at home before being sent to the Catholic College in Juilly, from which he graduated in 1708 with a degree in law. He also studied law in Paris before he returned home to work in the family winemaking business. When his uncle died in 1716, Montesquieu inherited his position of magistrate and president à mortier, or deputy president of the Bordeaux parlement. This put him in charge of the criminal courts in the district, and he also supervised the jails in which defendants were held prior to trial.
By 1725, Montesquieu had tired of his administrative duties, so he resigned his government positions in order to engage in research in the sciences, medicine, and politics. In 1731, Montesquieu moved to England for two years. He attended debates at Parliament, became friends with many scientists, writers, and nobles, and was elected to the Royal Society of London. He believed that the British government proved that the rule of law and political freedom could exist in the modern world.
When Montesquieu returned to France, he began writing a treatise on how government could maintain order while protecting freedom. His work became increasingly difficult because he was losing his sight, and by the time he finished writing The Spirit of the Laws he was blind. He dictated its contents to a series of secretaries, producing a two-volume opus of 670 pages. Four decades later, this book became a principal source for the framers of the US Constitution.
The Spirit of the Laws (1748)
Of the Republican Government, and the Laws in relation to Democracy
When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy. When the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a part of the people, it is then an aristocracy. In a democracy the people are in some respects the sovereign, and in others the subject.
There can be no exercise of sovereignty but by their suffrages, which are their own will; now the sovereign’s will is the sovereign himself. The laws therefore which establish the right of suffrage are fundamental to this government. And indeed it is as important to regulate in a republic, in what manner, by whom, to whom, and concerning what, suffrages are to be given, as it is in a monarchy to know who is the prince, and after what manner he ought to govern….
The people, in whom the supreme power resides, ought to have the management of everything within their reach: that which exceeds their abilities must be conducted by their ministers. But they cannot properly be said to have their ministers, without the power of nominating them: it is,