Egalitarian Political Regimes
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论文字数:1566论文编号:org201406021635118922语种:英语 English地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:Egalitarian Political Regimes平等主义政权平均主义思想Fragility of EgalitarianismLettres Persanes
摘要:Both Montesquieu and Rousseau in their respective days were vastly aware with the attending problems associated with the reintroduction of the ancient ideas of the republic and egalitarianism. However, they each firmly believed that whatever problems may accompany the advent of such in Modernity, it would certainly be worth it.
Introduction
Though The Spirit of Laws is probably the best-known work of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, his Lettres Persanes (Persian Letters) is another famous work in which he explores, with perhaps more depth, the notion of equality and egalitarian political rule. A generation later, John Jacques Rousseau would appear on the political landscape and present his own ideas on the same topic. Chief to be explored among his writings will be the Contrat Social (Social Contract) in which Rousseau lays out with some detail a discussion of the nature of egalitarian political regimes and explores various strengths and weaknesses of them.
Montesquieu and the Fragility of Egalitarianism
In the beginning of the 89th letter, Montesquieu claims that “A Paris règnent la liberté et l’égalité.” Birthrights, social ranks, and even military victories did not set men apart (in terms of class distinctions) in Paris during his writing. This was a thing to be praised by Montesquieu. He saw too much in the world that lent itself away from egalitarianism, at least insofar as the right of persons to be equal is concerned. It will be beneficial here to take a moment to set up Montesquieu’s views on the republic to better lay a foundation for his comments on equality. In Book 11 of the Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu explores the (then) unique situation in England of a monarchy controlled, to an extent, by a
constitution, and it that portion of the Spirit of the Laws Montesquieu is chiefly impressed by and concerned with the Englishman’s “liberty.” As regards the very nature of a republic, Montesquieu argues in the Spirit of the Laws that there are three basic types of governmental systems. The despot rules by inculcating fear in the people. The monarch does better and rules by a sense of honor and by “fixed established laws.” Both of these types of governing are fairly stable. One does not need to necessarily think of them as intrinsically fragile in the sense in which, say, the last political option (i.e., the republic) may be thought to be fragile. The despot, so long as he maintains fear amongst the peoples, has nothing to fear himself.
Apparently for Montesquieu, it is the monarchy which is the first and primary type of government. He writes in Letter 131 of the Lettres Persanes, “Les premiers gouvernements du monde furent monarchiques.” Coming on the heels of this original type of government would be both the despotic rule and the republic, the latter of which comes by “chance,” he indicates. Apparently, despotism amounts to little more than a degeneration of an original monarchy. But, the republic is a genuine advancement of the Greeks. However, this advancement brings with it an intrinsic tendency toward reversion to that which preceded it, either monarchy or despotism, and this fact may be due to the complexity of the republic in both its nature and principles.
For Montesquieu, one of the things that may typify the fragile nature of the republic is that it “cannot survive without what Montesquieu calls political virtue.” It is this requirement that the citizens must embody this political virtue (without which the republic could not endure) that lends to the fragile nature of republics. If the people cease persisting in this virtue, the republic could not endure, for the republic exists and continues only so lo
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