Baron de Montesquieu, a government philosopher, and one of the five philosophers that helped revolutionized the American's constitutional democratic government.

Baron de Montesquieu, a government philosopher, who wrote many significant governmental theories in book The Spirit of Laws, wrote one of the most inspirational pieces in the section, "Book II. Of Laws Derived from the Nature of Government." Montesquieu began and covered most this book with the importance of the three different types of governments: republican, monarchical, and despotic and their significance of them being together. The first government he describes, and most cherished, was the Republican Government, or democratic. Montesquieu stressed the point that democratic governments work, because of the simple strategy of letting people control who they let rule. He honored the voting system highly, but warned about giving too much power to a higher official in case of an overthrow by a tyrant such as what happened in the downfall of Rome. The abuse of power was also seen a lot earlier in Rome when aristocracy, when only a few rule, was very evident.

The Seat of Government

upright

A painting of Montesquieu

The few rulers did not have a check or balance system to monitor their powers, such as a senate or an assembly. The idea of a senate monitoring one or several rulers and laws, and having a section of developing laws is one of Montesquieu's fundamental philosophies. The share of powers between the senate, the ruler, and the lawmakers was a theory that Montesquieu thought would work effectively after studying the failure of the Roman Empire and the success of the British rule. In conclusion, the shared power and the idea of decisions given to the people by Montesquieu helped form the oldest and most influential constitutional democratic government in the world.