montesquieu

Montesquieu (1689-1755) thought that all things made up of laws or rules that never changed. According to him there were three types of government. A monarchy, a republic, and a despotism. He believed that the best form of government was the one that was elected by the people. He believed that the success of a democracy was when the people have power and that it maintained the right balance of power.

Montesquieu thought the best government was balanced among three groups of officials and he called that "seperation of powers". He thought that the seperate branches should have equal but different powers, that way the government would not put too much power in an individual group. He believed that the government could limit the power of the other two branches so that no government could threaten the people's freedom. His ideas of seperation of powers were the base of the Constitution.

Montesquieu did not believe that all people were equal. He approved of slavery and thought men were higher than women and that they should obey the commands of their husband. Despite that, he did believe women had the ability to govern.