Download or read book Montesquieu's 'The Spirit of the Laws' written by and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2024-02-06 with total page 1018 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spirit of the Laws not only systematizes the foundational ideas of “separation of powers” and “balances and checks,” it provides the decisive response to the question of whether power in the nation-state can be limited in the aftermath of the Westphalian settlement of 1648. It describes a civilizational change through which power becomes domesticated, with built-in resistance to attempts to absolutize (or make total) political power. As such, it is the Bible of modern politics, now made more accessible to English readers than it ever has been.