Major Works

• On the Spirit of the Laws

  - Recommended edition: Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. The Spirit of the Laws. Edited and translated by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold Stone. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989.
  Excerpt from the recommended edition: I began by examining men, and I believed that, amidst the infinite diversity of laws and mores, they were not led by their fancies alone. I have set down the principles, and I have seen particular cases conform to them as… More

Commentary

• Virtuous Republics and Glorious Monarchies: Two Models in Montesquieu’s Political Thought

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  Keohane, Nannerl O. “Virtuous Republics and Glorious Monarchies: Two Models in Montesquieu’s Political Thought.” Political Studies 20, no. 4 (1972): 383–396.

• Montesquieu and the Old Regime

  - Hulliung, Mark. Montesquieu and the Old Regime. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
  Hulliung offers a distinct interpretation on Montesquieu’s appraisal of the old regime.

• The Modern Doctrine of Executive Power

  - Mansfield, Harvey C. “The Modern Doctrine of Executive Power.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 17, no. 2 (April 1, 1987): 237–252.
  When executive power is understood in its essential ambivalence between the weak, formal executive of theory and the strong, informal executive in practice, a quick history of the doctrine necessary to establish this ambivalence can be constructed: from… More

• Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Modern Executive Power

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  Mansfield, Harvey Claflin. Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Modern Executive Power. New York: Free Press, 1989.
  This survey of Western political thought ranges from Aristotle to “The Federalist Papers”, showing how the doctrine of executive power arose and how it has developed to the present day. Although there were various “proto-executives”,… More

• Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism: A Commentary on the Spirit of the Laws

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  Pangle, Thomas L. Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism: a Commentary on the Spirit of the Laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
  From the publisher: This first comprehensive commentary on The Spirit of the Laws uncovers and explicates the plan of Montesquieu’s famous but baffling treatise. Pangle brings to light Montesquieu’s rethinking of the philosophical groundwork of… More

• Fearing Monarchs and Merchants: Montesquieu’s Two Theories of Despotism

  - Boesche, Roger. “Fearing Monarchs and Merchants: Montesquieu’s Two Theories of Despotism.” The Western Political Quarterly 43, no. 4 (December 1, 1990): 741–761.
  Although he did not invent the word despotism, Montesquieu more than any other author established it in our lexicon of political and politicized words. When we examine Montesquieu’s concept of despotism, however, we see an attack on two forces… More

• Montesquieu’s Science of Politics: Essays on The Spirit of the Laws

  - Carrithers, David W., Michael A. Mosher, and Paul A. Rahe, eds. Montesquieu’s Science of Politics: Essays on The Spirit of Laws. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
  From the publisher: Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws is one of a handful of classic works of political philosophy deserving a fresh reading every generation. The product of immense erudition, Montesquieu’s treatise has captured since its first… More

• Liberalism with Honor

  - Krause, Sharon R. Liberalism with Honor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
  From the publisher: Why do men and women sometimes risk everything to defend their liberties? What motivates principled opposition to the abuse of power? In Liberalism with Honor, Sharon Krause explores honor as a motive for risky and difficult forms of… More

• Montesquieu on Slavery

  - Schaub, Diana J. “Montesquieu on Slavery.” Perspectives on Political Science 34, no. 2 (Spring 2005): 70–78.
  Schaub studies Montesquieu’s erotic liberalism and unveils the triple-despotism–domestic, political, and spiritual–that The Persian Letters portrays and ridicules. She closely tracks Montesquieu on big issues such as his shifting… More

• Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rosseau, Marx

  - Althusser, Louis. Translated by Ben Brewster. Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rosseau, Marx. London: Verso, 2007.
  From the publisher: In the first two essays of this book, Louis Althusser analyses the work of two of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment – Montesquieu and Rousseau. He shows that although they made considerable advances towards establishing a… More

• Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

  - Carrithers, David W., ed. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. International Library of Essays in the History of Social and Political Thought Series. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Press, 2009.
  From the publisher: The French philosopher Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) was a political and social thinker of enormous depth, range, originality, and influence. The essays by eminent scholars reprinted in this volume explore… More

• Soft Despotism, Democracy’s Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect

  - Rahe, Paul Anthony. Soft Despotism, Democracy’s Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
  From the publisher: In 1989, the Cold War abruptly ended and it seemed as if the world was at last safe for democracy. But a spirit of uneasiness, discontent, and world-weariness soon arose and has persisted in Europe, in America, and elsewhere for two… More

• Civilising International Politics: Republicanism and the World Outside

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  Long, Katya. “Civilising International Politics: Republicanism and the World Outside.” Millennium - Journal of International Studies 38, no. 3 (May 1, 2010): 773–796.
  The link between republicanism and international relations theory is far from obvious. Among the many schools of contemporary theories of international relations there is not one that makes any explicit reference to republicanism. However, during the… More

• The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws

  - Pangle, Thomas L. The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010.
  From the publisher: The Spirit of the Laws—Montesquieu’s huge, complex, and enormously influential work—is considered one of the central texts of the Enlightenment, laying the foundation for the liberally democratic political regimes that were to… More

• French Political Thought from Montesquieu to Tocqueville: Liberty in a Levelled Society?

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  Dijn, Annelien de. French Political Thought from Montesquieu to Tocqueville: Liberty in a Levelled Society? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  From the publisher: This 2008 study makes a major contribution to our understanding of one of the most important and enduring strands of modern political thought. Annelien de Dijn argues that Montesquieu’s aristocratic liberalism – his conviction… More

• On Political Liberty: Montesquieu’s Missing Manuscript

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  Dijn, Annelien de. “On Political Liberty: Montesquieu’s Missing Manuscript.” Political Theory 39, no. 2 (April 1, 2011): 181–204.
  This essay draws attention to the importance of Montesquieu’s earliest and unpublished writings on liberty for our understanding of the famous eleventh book of the Spirit of the Laws. Montesquieu’s investigation of the nature and preconditions of… More

• Montesquieu and Modern Republicanism

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  Douglass, Robin. “Montesquieu and Modern Republicanism.” Political Studies 60, no. 3 (2012): 703–719.
  In this article I explore Montesquieu’s discussion of republics and the constitution of England in order to question the extent to which he should be accorded a central place in a tradition of modern republicanism. This involves challenging Paul… More

Multimedia

• Iván Szelényi: Montesquieu

  - Iván Szelényi, "Foundations of Modern Social Theory," Yale Open Courses, Fall 2009.
  Professor Iván Szelényi’s lectures on Montesquieu from Yale’s “Foundations of Modern Social Theory,” available through Yale Open Courses. Fall 2009.