Montesquieu
... The general spirit of despotism is fear. No laws are needed because life depends on the whim of the dictator. Deserts are only suited for tyranny. Desert life is suited to despotism since the conditions in a desert are harsh and resources scarce. One leader forcing his will on everyone else in order that society will survive. Vast empires come under the rule of despotism in many cases. There are not any rules governing inheritance or women and education promotes ignorance and fear. A monarchy is best adapted to a moderate size area with a temperate climate. The general principle of monarchy is honor. People must honor the monarch and each other. Where the wealth is concentrated in the king or nobility, in the case of an aristocracy, one must have laws regarding inheritance of property. Property should not be split up from a single child in accordance with primogenitor where the first son inherits all. Education in a monarchy pertains to war preparation, politeness, and virtues. The republic is split up into a democracy and aristocracy. The general principle of democracy is virtue, where people govern themselves and do the right thing all the time. The laws in a democracy must keep property equal and keep rich from building up a gap between themselves and the poorer classes. In order to instill the great sense of virtue, education must be thoroughly incorporated. There are laws to keep people educated. In aristocracy, the general principle is moderation and equality. The best geographic location for a republic is a small city state. The area must be small in order to ensure everyone is virtuous and equal. When there is discord, the people would form factions and somebody would gain the upper hand and the minorities would get trampled. Montesquieu’s idea of democracy was adapted by James Madison for the United States. Madison believed in extended republic which is greatly increasing the area of the democracy would allow it to function due to the dilution of the large amount of people included and he wrote about this in The Federalist. This was written in order to support the Constitution. There would be so many people that no one group could gain a majority. The United States is so large and diverse that there is generally no single majority. The United States Constitution is greatly influenced by Montesquieu as far as the system of government is...