Canonical · Governance & Power · Treatise

Checks and Balances & the Separation of Powers

Montesquieu / The Federalists · 1748

"Montesquieu and the Federalists argued that concentrating power in one body makes its abuse inevitable — so liberty requires splitting power across competing institutions that can check each other."

The idea

Montesquieu wrote in 1748 that any person with power is apt to abuse it. The American founders took that warning and built three branches that can each block the other two.

Why it works

The takeaway — recall it first

The Iron Law of Oligarchy

"Michels argued that any organization — no matter how democratic its ideals — tends toward oligarchy as complexity, expertise, and delegation concentrate real power in a small permanent leadership."

Robert Michels · BookContinue→