USA HISTORY

THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION 1700 1774

THE AMERICAN ENLIGHTENMENT INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which Enlightenment philosopher believed government works best when there is separation of powers?
A
Hobbes
B
Locke
C
Montesquieu
D
Rousseau
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Montesquieu concluded that the best form of government was one in which the legislative, executive, and judicial powers were separate and kept each other in check to prevent any branch from becoming too powerful. He believed that uniting these powers, as in the monarchy of Louis XIV, would lead to despotism.

Detailed explanation-2: -Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) is perhaps best known for his belief in the separation of governmental powers.

Detailed explanation-3: -Based on these excerpts, Montesquieu believed that government should be separated into three branches with different roles to protect liberty, but Locke was more concerned with protecting the individual liberties of people, like property, peace, and safety, than about the structure of the government itself.

Detailed explanation-4: -Charles Louis Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755), whose name is usually shortened to Montesquieu, was a French philosopher and author, who is considered one of the founders of sociology as a scholarly discipline. He was among the most influential thinkers of the French Enlightenment.

Detailed explanation-5: -The term “trias politica” or “separation of powers” was coined by Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, an 18th century French social and political philosopher.

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