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Separation of state powers: executive, legislative, judicial; classification of systems of government based on their principles Signature Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu [ a ] (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu , was a French judge , man of letters , historian ...
In The Spirit of Law (1748), [17] Montesquieu described the various forms of distribution of political power among a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. Montesquieu's approach was to present and defend a form of government whose powers were not excessively centralized in a single monarch or similar ruler (a form known then as ...
Madison made a few exceptions when reviewing each state in No. 47. Massachusetts's constitution agreed with Montesquieu on the separation of powers as it did not state a clear disconnect between the three branches but contained partial agencies. New York's had no declaration on the subject even though they did not have total separation either.
Montesquieu was one of the foremost supporters of separating the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. His writings considerably influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States , such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison , who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which drafted the Constitution.
Montesquieu makes use of the concept of the state of nature in his The Spirit of the Laws, first printed in 1748. Montesquieu states the thought process behind early human beings before the formation of society. He says that human beings would have the faculty of knowing and would first think to preserve their life in the state.
Montesquieu's treatise, already widely disseminated, had an enormous influence on the work of many others, most notably: Catherine the Great, who produced Nakaz (Instruction); the Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution; and Alexis de Tocqueville, who applied Montesquieu's methods to a study of American society, in Democracy in America.
After detailing the history of Rome's many wars, Montesquieu claimed, "The greatness of the state caused the greatness of personal fortunes. But since opulence consists in morals, not riches, the riches of the Romans, which continued to have limits, produced a luxury and profusion which did not." [2]
Although no state has ever introduced a state church (New South Wales restricted religious groups during the early colonial period), the legal body corresponding to many religious organisations is established by state legislation. [36] [37] There have been two referendums to extend Section 116 to states, but both failed. In each case the ...