Ameritopia by Levin Mark R

Author:Levin, Mark R. [Levin, Mark R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2012-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

Obviously, Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws had virtually nothing in common with the utopias in Plato’s Republic, More’s Utopia, Hobbes’s Leviathan, and, later, Marx’s workers’ paradise. Montesquieu’s greatest concern was with despotism’s threat to the individual and his political liberty. He argued for moderate, republican government, where the people choose their representatives and their representatives are prudent and virtuous. Aware of tyranny’s resoluteness and the nature of political power, Montesquieu insisted that republics must separate the three powers of government into different branches to ensure they are not united under one person or centralized in one institution.

Furthermore, he emphasized that the law must be stable and predictable, reflective of society’s mores, and made not to interfere with the individual’s routine except in cases of actual necessity. When disputes arise or violations of law occur, they are to be adjudicated by individuals who are independent of the legislative and executive branches and adhere strictly to the law’s meaning.

In addition to his separation-of-powers design, Montesquieu’s warning about a republic’s vulnerability should its size be too big and its scope too broad provided compelling political and intellectual justification for the federalism model in the American constitution. Even Montesquieu’s discussion of the republic of the Lycians, where member towns (states) were allocated votes based on their size, and the republic of Holland, where member states were each allocated a single vote regardless of size, provided guidance for organizing America’s future congress.

Montesquieu also rejected pure democracy, or extreme equality, where the public makes claims on the liberties and rights of the individual. He observed that property rights, commerce, and trade create wealth and economic progress, which benefit the individual and society. They also encourage peace between nations.

Montesquieu’s view of man, man’s nature, society, the law, and government would undoubtedly have led him to conclude that utopianism is despotism. He argued for liberty, equality properly understood, moderation, tolerance, and tradition. In political freedom, he believed the individual and society would prosper. Among his greatest thoughts were those aimed at the means of diminishing the opportunities for tyranny in government. Hence, Montesquieu’s advocacy for republicanism, constitutionalism, justice, and the rule of law. In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu would provide a road map for the American constitution, in which a system of government is established to represent a diverse and dynamic society, and the individual lives free from the cruelty and domination of others and the government itself.

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