Montesquieu

January 18, 1689 - February 10, 1755, full name: Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. One of the great political philosophers of the Enlightenment.

Montesquieu constructed a naturalistic account of the various forms of government and the causes that made them what they were and that influenced their development. Montesquieu used that account to explain how governments might be preserved from corruption. He viewed despotism, in particular, as a potent danger for any government. It could be avoided, he argued, by a system in which different bodies would share the power, and in which they would be bound by the rule of law. His theory of the separation of powers (into a legislative, an executive, and a judiciary branch) had an enormous impact on political theory and - together with the theories of John Locke - lay the groundworks for the Constitution of the United States.

Sources

Baron de Montesquieu: "A Short Biography". http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesquieu/montesquieu-bio.html. Accessed: Jan. 28, 2010.

Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10536a.htm. Accessed: Jan. 28, 2010.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu. (Jan 20, 2010). Accessed: Jan. 28, 2010.