Montesquieu - "The Persian Letters" - The Parable of the Troglodytes and Its Relation to Forming a Government

“The Need for Virtue” from the book The American Revolution: A History by Gordon Wood, explains that the states, newly separated from England, cannot have a monarchical government because that is what they despised about their previous homeland. What holds this together is obedience to the king. What holds a republic together is the virtue of the people.

However, when examining to what extent Machiavelli's maxims on ruler ship applied to Richelieu's own experiences, it is important to understand that a state's domestic affairs and it's international ones are mutually constitutive. It is apparent that the issue of internal security was crucial and impacted France's status in the international arena. From 1624-8, Richelieu's foreign policy was jeopardized by national concerns: the revolt of the Huguenots and inconveniences resulting from those who directly opposed him within France, specifically the noblesse and the peasantry. With increasingly power-acquiring factions, Richelieu understood that the greater part of educated, intelligent French citizens wished for a sound

During this period in French history, the nobility was starting to gain power and prestige, and this power presented the king with a problem: he needed to have strong nobles to strengthen his realm by extension. However, he still had to maintain power and his position of supremacy. Richelieu posits that the king must maintain a firm system of punishments and rewards:”Punishments and rewards are two quite necessary elements in the conduct of states. It is an ordinary allegation, but more true, and often repeated by all men, that rewards and punishments are the two most important tools of government available in a realm.” This system played on the honor obsession the nobility had, and strengthened the kingship at the same time. If one helped the king, they were rewarded with more honor and a higher position; if they resisted, they lost everything. This strengthened the kingship as well. Those he rewarded would be assets to the kingdom, while those he punished would serve as warnings to those who considered resisting.

The Government is the collection of people from a single or multi parties who are elected in to power by the public with the goal of improving the nation, catering to public interest and attending to the public’s needs. – It’s important to provide a clear definition linked to the role of government. Moss is himself unsure as he uses the words “I think” which automatically create doubt among the readers. He also fails to use a clear definition linked to the meaning and purpose of the government which further affects the reader’s attention.

Baron de Montesquieu sees the people as sovereign exclusively in a democracy and act through elected bodies or ministers. Since the people have the sole power to enact laws, the rules of suffrage are vital to a successful democracy. Following closely is the need for a fixed amount of active citizens in an assembly. As such, the essence of his democracy revolves around the need for love of the laws and of the country. (Montesquieu Bk. 4 Pt. 5) Likewise, frugality is important because it allows all of society to share a similar level of enjoyment and advantages that a democracy brings. When the populace look to frugality, enhanced public services are made available. Consequently, there is a law of

The legend is split up into a series of small stanzas that describe the actual life conditions. Following the two-sentence prelude to the myth, the storyteller introduces

1. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with the British monarchy involve its straying from ideal government, the unjust placement of one individual above all others, and its hereditary aspect. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with King George III in particular are his personal transgressions against liberty. Thomas Paine, firstly views government as “but a necessary evil” (15), and therefore it should be both as limited as possible and also tied to the more positive society. The ideal form of government, thus according to Paine, is a simple republic where the elected are forced to be accountable to their electors (16). The British monarchy fails in all accounts; not only does the prescence of a monarchy at all eliminate the accountability of a republic, but the complicatedness of the British monarchy system makes it worse in this aspect than even other monarchies. Although absolute monarchies are horrid in that they give no power to the people, they are still simpler than the British monarchy; this makes issues much more difficult to handle in the British monarchy (17). The other problems that Paine has with the British monarchy apply to monarchies at large. Paine argues that the placement of one person above all others is an unnatural divide; there is no explanation for the division of people into “KINGS and SUBJECTS” (22) such as there are in other forms of division that humans live with. If it does not make sense to place one individual above all others, then such should most certainly not be law; therefore, from this logic, monarchy, which is entirely based on the principle of placing one person (and their relatives) above all others, is an invalid and unnatural form of government. Of course, some people could, arguably, have earned the admiration and respect of their peers through important action, and thus be deserving of a leadership position. In a republic, by listening to their electors, the elected earn their right to lead. However, the hereditary monarchy removes this earning of the right to lead, and Paine takes issue with that. There is no guarantee that the descendants of a good leader will also be good leaders, and therefore the government of a country should never be left to heredity (29).

During the Enlightenment it was thought political power should be divided between different classes and the laws of a government should not urge any man or women to rebel. The philosopher Montesquieu thought to in order to avoid tyrant, you needed to not have laws and rules that restrain the people too much.“A government may be constituted, as no man shall be compelled to do things at which the law does not oblige him.” In society today, our laws are made and enforced so no one should feel confined but also people feel safe and protected. Montesquieu also thought that the way to prevent abuse was to separate governmental

As Montesquieu and Rousseau both bind the idea that sovereignty should be the mindset that is grasped upon when you’re born and you should use it to your highest potential. It is expressed in their own different way but in result, it is involved in the same quest that Voltaire contributes of the common good in the novel. The type of contribution that is discussed in the abuses of power in Candide. Voltaire depicts power being abused from scenes of the novel as they’re reinforced in many views from potential change, human rights, and other Enlightenment values that are portrayed in the book of Candide.

Pangloss, a philosopher is depicted all through the novel as an idealistic mastermind who lives by this logic. Candide, who is mentored by Pangloss aimlessly much of the time addresses this reasoning at snapshots of hardship over the span of his life, lastly rejects it, picking to trust that in spite of the fact that the world is not the best of all possible worlds but,“we must cultivate our garden” (Voltaire 365). Different characters in the book likewise can 't help contradicting Pangloss ' ideals. Jacques who went to Lisbon with Pangloss isn 't strong of these ideals. Jacques says “ humankind has corrupted its nature a little, for people were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves. God did not give them heavy cannon or bayonets, yet they have invented them to destroy each other” (Voltaire 309). The book recounts the account of Candide, as he goes through life and endures numerous hardships on account of others. Candide not only suffers, but the people he surrounds himself with suffer the same fate as well. The book does a good job at outlining human suffering that provoked enlightenment ideas to not only challenge it, but to really show their true selves. Each time something bad happens Pangloss shares his idealistic perspective as to why it occurred. The way Candide points these things out, causes the reader to disagree with Pangloss’s

A glint of good news came to the now-impoverished family when the merchant heard that a ship containing his merchandise had just arrived in port. The merchant was overjoyed and went to claim his wealth, only to find that there had been a legal ordeal and he had, indeed, lost it all. Here, the author tries to illustrate the French government’s inadequacy in meeting the needs of the people. In the 1850s, great minds, including the Swiss/French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, were writing that the authority to rule came from the people themselves. Furthermore, philosophers argued that the government’s duty was not to serve their own decadence but rather to serve the people. The French government, being an absolute monarchy, was ruled by only the word of Louis XV, and the royal Bourbon family had a history of ruling to meet their own selfish desires. The French monarchy did not uphold the intrinsic promise and duty of any government to protect, feed, and serve its people. De Beaumont symbolizes this by failing to deliver the goods to the impoverished former merchant. In other words, just like the merchant’s undelivered goods, the

Government is an administration defined by the Constitution, but is also a constantly adjusting foundation by the efforts of its citizens. By Litherland (2014), government is defined as policies set in order to lead a body of people (p. 395). Over the span of time, the idea of government has been stretched, changed, and applied to various communities throughout both the nation and the world. Whether it was back in the eighteenth century, current, or in the very near future—government has existed and will continue to exist for its people and the nation it has built its foundation upon. With the use of multiple authors, those of: “Difference between Direct and Representative Democracy” (n.d.), “Federalism - Dividing Power between States and the

A logical starting point in an investigation of legitimate government would seem to be an account of the original purpose of government. Problems arise, though, in discovering this original purpose; any and all attempts seem to consist of mere speculation. Government is a social convention created by man.* It is doubtful whether or not there can ever be an empirically accurate account of the

Montesquieu was a French philosopher who was very important in the American constitutional thought. He was a man who was referred to more that any other theoretical writer and wrote, "The Spirit of the Laws." Some of Montesquie's theories or views were that the Republic form of government was only

These examples illustrate Montaigne’s belief that while there is some justification to base a judgment based on daily activities, it is nearly impossible to create a proper judgment of humankind, and when a historian cannot, they become hypocrites.