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

• 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

• Confronting the Constitution: The Challenge to Locke, Montesquieu, Jefferson, and the Federalists from Utilitarianism, Historicism, Marxism, Freudianism, Pragmatism, Existentialism

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  Bloom, Allan David, and Steven J Kautz. Confronting the Constitution: The Challenge to Locke, Montesquieu, Jefferson, and the Federalists from Utilitarianism, Historicism, Marxism, Freudianism, Pragmatism, Existentialism. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1990.
  The 17 essays in this volume examine first the precepts of the Founding Fathers and their mentors. Then the most significant preconstitutional ideas are outlined, together with analyses of how they harmonize with the Constitution and how they undermine it.

• An Intellectual History of Liberalism

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  Manent, Pierre. An Intellectual History of Liberalism. Translated by Rebecca Balinski. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.
  From the publisher: Highlighting the social tensions that confront the liberal tradition, Pierre Manent draws a portrait of what we, citizens of modern liberal democracies, have become. For Manent, a discussion of liberalism encompasses the foundations of… More

• Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers

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  Vile, M. J. C. Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998.
  Arguably no political principle has been more central than the separation of powers to the evolution of constitutional governance in Western democracies. In the definitive work on the subject, M. J. C. Vile traces the history of the doctrine from its rise… More

• Montesquieu on Federalism and Anglo-Gothic Constitutionalism

  - Ward, Lee. “Montesquieu on Federalism and Anglo-Gothic Constitutionalism.” Publius 37, no. 4 (October 1, 2007): 551–577.
  The common perception that Montesquieu is not a major theorist of federalism is due both to the peripheral nature of his account of confederate republics and his praise of the unitary British Constitution in the “Spirit of the Laws.” This study… More

• The Spirit of Separate Powers in Montesquieu

  - Krause, Sharon. “The Spirit of Separate Powers in Montesquieu.” The Review of Politics 62, no. 2 (April 1, 2000): 231–265.
  Montesquieu’s theory of separate powers is elaborated in a discussion of the constitution of England in Book XI, chapter 6 of The Spirit of the Laws, which is by far the most discussed section of that work. Many commentators have interpreted the English… More

• The Cloaking of Power: Montesquieu, Blackstone, and the Rise of Judicial Activism

  - Carrese, Paul, The Cloaking of Power Montesquieu, Blackstone, and the Rise of Judicial Activism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
  From the publisher: How did the US judiciary become so powerful—powerful enough that state and federal judges once vied to decide a presidential election? What does this prominence mean for the law, constitutionalism, and liberal democracy? In The Cloaking… More

• Montesquieu’s Complex Natural Right and Moderate Liberalism: The Roots of American Moderation

  - Carrese, Paul. “Montesquieu’s Complex Natural Right and Moderate Liberalism: The Roots of American Moderation.” Polity 36, no. 2 (January 1, 2004): 227–250.
  The diversity in twentieth-century scholarship on Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws helps to confirm his own appreciation for complexity, synthesis, and balance in both political theory and practice. This is the overlooked meaning of… 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

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.