WEBVTT

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Prof: Okay,
I have a lot to talk about

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today, and we move one century,
and we move into another

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culture.

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Both are very important.

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We move from seventeenth
century England to eighteenth

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century France.

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We move from a situation which
was dominated by civil war,

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chaos and a yearning for a
clear sovereign,

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and we move in a century,
you can call it of

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Enlightenment--
that's where the term

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Enlightenment comes from,
the French context--and a

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century of decadence.

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Eventually it leads to a
revolution, but before the

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revolution there is a lot of
fairly juicy decadence.

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So two different epochs and two
different cultures.

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British individualism:
Hobbes and Locke were

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methodological individualists.

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They thought the analysis
should start always with the

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individual.

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You remember Hobbes--individual
drives and fears--and then he

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builds up that society is
starting always from the

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individual.

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Not the French.

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The French are methodological
collectivists.

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They believe there is such a
thing as society which is more

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than the sum total of the
individuals, and somehow they

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know how to grasp it.

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So these are the changes,
what you will see today,

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Thursday and next Tuesday,
when we will be discussing

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Montesquieu and Jean Jacques
Rousseau,

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before we return to British
individualism,

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Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.

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Don't ask me why this
difference between the two

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cultures, but there is a lasting
difference.

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Today's topic is Montesquieu,
and I have a lot of fun stories

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to tell,
but I'll try to limit my

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anecdotes so I can focus enough
on the text and do not run out

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of time by the end.

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Okay, so that was Montesquieu.

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He was born as Charles-Louis de
Secondat, Baron de La

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His father was from a noble
family, but because he was a

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younger son he had to become a
mercenary, and,

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in fact, he was fighting Turks
in Hungary.

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He received a law degree
nevertheless,

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from the University of
Bordeaux, and in 1715 he did

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what many aristocrats did;
he married a wealthy woman,

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Jeanne de Lartigue,
which was helpful for him

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because he was not all that very
wealthy, though he was a

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nobleman.

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His uncle was Baron de
Montesquieu,

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and when he passed away
Charles-Louis received his

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title,
he became Montesquieu,

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and inherited his office,
the presidency of the

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Parliament of Bordeaux.

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Don't think about it,
it was not a very big deal and

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certainly did not offer income
for a luxurious life--

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was not particularly affluent
stuff and was not particularly

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powerful stuff.

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Now a bit about the times.

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Well here it is,
Louis XIV, the heights of

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French absolutism.

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Well he was called the Sun King.

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And here is his emblem, the sun;
he's shining like the sun.

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Well he actually
claimed--that's a famous

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sentence,
and important to understand

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moi,"
I am the state.

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Well it was kind of an
over-statement--not quite.

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He pretended to be more
powerful than he actually was.

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The French absolutism did show
already cracks,

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and the bourgeoisie was
becoming already quite powerful

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under the times of Louis XIV.

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But he had the notion of French
gloire,

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the glory, and he built this
wonderful Palace of Versailles,

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showing what gloire or
glory is.

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President de Gaulle also
emphasized the French

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gloire.

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The French are very fond of it.

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Okay, the eighteenth century
was the Century of

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light.

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Well it was Descartes who
transformed philosophy towards

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the cold view,
cold look of reason--and that

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was the one which was spreading
in eighteenth century England--

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culminating in the 1789
revolution.

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And we see two major steps in
this direction:

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Montesquieu and Rousseau.

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Well one of the major
accomplishment of the

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Enlightenment were the
publications of

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Encyclopedia Britannica--
Diderot and d'Alembert edited,

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and which put together
rationalistic scholarship of

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their time.

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Well here you have the First
Edition of

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Well as Louis XIV passed away,
his five-year-old

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great-grandson,
Louis XV, became the king and

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ruled for a very long time.

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Well the decade of absolutism
and royal authority continued,

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and we are really entering now,
with 1715,

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one--probably the longest in
modern history--

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the longest epoch of decadence
and sexual permissiveness.

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It's an interesting kind
of--seemed to recur in human

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history, right?

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Then you had a similar kind of
permissiveness and sort of

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decadence--1890s until 1914;
probably 1930.

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And then the 1960s,
of course, when everything

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goes.

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Well this was a time of this
kind.

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Well he was not particularly
interested in governing,

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but he was very interested in
beautiful women.

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Well he was quite a good
looking guy when he was young,

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as well.

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So I'm sure women were quite
interested in him too.

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And you know the name;
Madame Pompadour was the most

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famous and most influential of
his mistresses.

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As I said, it was becoming a
time of sexual permissiveness,

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promiscuity pretty
widespread--also affected

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Montesquieu.

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Here is Madame Pompadour,
indeed a very beautiful person.

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But not only beautiful;
she was extremely smart as

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well, as far as we can tell.

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She was an intellectual of very
distinguished taste.

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She knew all people of the
Enlightenment;

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Voltaire, one of the big
troublemakers of his time.

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She supported Diderot and the
project of

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authority did not really like
this one.

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Well let me just give you a
little ethnography,

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if you are interested:
Des Liaisons

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Dangereuses.

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Pierre Chordelos de Laclos
wrote a novel about the sexual

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mores of this time,
which is called The

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Dangerous Relationships,
Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

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Well there was two movies made
of it.

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And anybody watched any of
these movies?

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Nobody watched it.

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Wonderful movie.

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Well there are two versions:
one by Roger Vadim,

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and that puts the whole story
in French society of its time.

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And the other one is an
American one:

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Stephen Frears,
and it is Glenn Close who

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features in it.

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Well this is the Pierre Vadim
movie.

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You can borrow it;
do, you will have fun,

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and you will have an
understanding what

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mid-eighteenth century in France
was,

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and where Montesquieu and
Rousseau are coming from.

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And, of course,
this is the American version

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with Glenn Close.

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She is already "rah",
the person what she likes to

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play: the vicious woman.

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Okay.

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Now Montesquieu,
well he lives in the century of

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Enlightenment and
promiscuousness.

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He sells his office;
though I mean he lives from the

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wealth of his wife.

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Starts a wine business,
but then he leaves the wine

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business to the wife and he's
beginning to travel in Europe

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and in England.

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Then when he returns,
he settles in Paris,

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leaves the wife back to run the
wine business,

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and he's beginning to write.

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He writes, publishes in 1721
already the Persian

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Letters--
I talked about this before--and

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and Art--
a very big accomplishment at

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this very early age.

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And finally,
1748, he publishes the major

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book.

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This is really a very important
book.

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I hope you did what I asked,
you glanced at it.

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Not an easy read--a bit drier
than some of the texts we read,

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but very important,
fundamentally important stuff.

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Diderot asks him to write
something for the

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But he's bored with the
question of democracy--he wrote

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enough about this--so he writes
an article on taste.

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Okay, and he died in 1755 in
Paris.

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So these are the times,
and this is your author,

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Montesquieu.

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Now let me move on to the work.

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Yes, so here we go:
The Spirit of the Laws.

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And here is the First Edition.

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So what is this book?

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The first part is law in
general and different modes of

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governance--interesting,
not path-breaking.

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This is not what he will be
remembered for,

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though, I mean,
he is opening some very

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important subject matters.

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The second one is law and
politics, and separation of

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powers.

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We will see he builds on Locke
and takes Locke in a big way

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forward--a great improvement in
many--to the extent there is

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improvement.

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Of course, Locke has some
insight which is missing from

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the Montesquieuian formulation
of separation of powers.

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Then he has this extraordinary
section on law and climate.

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This is one of his big
contributions.

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I will show you the way how he
formulated it is extremely

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But, given the twenty-first
century,

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there are very few people,
with the exception of Ibn

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Khaldun--
whom I named already in the

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introductory lecture--
who was so sensitive that

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society lives in this globe,
and how society is formed and

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structured,
and how its laws are being

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shaped is actually greatly
influenced by the nature of

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environmental and climactic
conditions.

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So he is the first ecologist he
is the first environmentalist

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who understand the interaction
between social organizations--

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mores, ethics,
ideas--and society.

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And then there is a bit on law
and commerce.

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I will very briefly talk about
this, law and religion,

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and I will skip this section
all together;

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and law and history I'll also
skip.

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So what are the main themes?

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First, you know,
will be about classification of

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governments.

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Then I will talk about
separation of powers,

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and then environment.

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Law and social structure,
right--these are the issues we

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will be rushing through.

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There's a lot of stuff to look
at.

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Well before Montesquieu,
the question when they

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classified government was who
rules, who is the sovereign?

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Montesquieu changes somewhat
the discourse.

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He is interested in the manner
of governments,

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how people who are in authority
rule;

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the real basic distinction,
whether a government is

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moderate or whether it is
despotic.

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Well, what are the questions
when you try to judge the nature

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of a government?

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One important question he said
you should ask:

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Are the various powers
separated or not?

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Irrespective who rules--whether
it can be a king,

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it can be an elected president,
it can be a prime minister--

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the question is:
Are the powers separated?

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And the next question is--this
is very important--why do people

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obey?

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The question why people obey
orders is touched upon by Hobbes

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and Locke, but it's not really
elaborated.

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This is the issue what they
will call the question of

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legitimacy.

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Right?

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What are the principles of why
they obey orders?

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And we will see much later in
this course that it will be Max

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Weber who elaborates on this
issue at great lengths.

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And then the next question is
okay, is the ruler an individual

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or is this an institution?

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You see, this is all very
interesting enrichment of the

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idea what the nature of
governments are.

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He himself supports a
constitutional monarchy.

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He supports a monarchy in which
there is a king or queen,

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but a king and queen which
operates on the rule of law;

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that's what constitutional
monarchy is.

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The second major theme is
separation of powers.

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I'm still elaborating what will
come.

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Well you have read Locke
distinguished between

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legislative, executive and
federative branches of

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government.

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Montesquieu distinguishes
between legislative,

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executive and juridical.

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Well this is the one which has
been so influential on the

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American Constitution--
what we all believe now in this

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country--
that these are the three

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branches which should be
separated;

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though, of course,
the federative remains to be an

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interesting issue.

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Who should exercise federative
powers, the powers of war?

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Should it, the legislature,
or should it be at the

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executive branch,
as such?

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Well Montesquieu suggests that
the three powers will have to be

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separated.

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The legislative power--and this
is a departure from Hobbes and

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Locke--should be by elected
representatives.

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And then he makes an important
new contribution.

18:54.720 --> 18:59.420
He said the right of minorities
should be respected.

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Though he kind of foreshadows
something like universal voting,

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though he is not quite explicit
about this, but you can read

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into it.

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But then he said the minority's
rights should be reserved.

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And he said,
well the legislative power

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cannot and should not be held by
the monarchs,

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but it has to be limited;
there must be a limitation on

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legislative powers.

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And the executive will exercise
checks over the legislature--

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and we will again talk about
this in more detail--

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but there must be some checks
and balances over the executive

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branch as well.

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Well it comes,
you know, who controls what?

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He puts more emphasis on the
executive limiting the

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legislatives than the other way
around.

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But we will see what the
arguments are and what the

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rationale for this is,
and how this affects,

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for instance,
the functioning of the U.S.

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government today.

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I think it is not all that far
away for the blueprint

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Montesquieu established way back
in the mid-eighteenth century.

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And then the last issue will be
environment--how social

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conditions are shaped by
environmental conditions.

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But he said,
but there is also a general

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spirit, a spirit which is above
the individuals.

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And this is a very French
theme, right?

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You cannot explain it from the
individual;

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there is some general idea.

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Durkheim will call it
collective conscience;

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Rousseau will call it the
general will.

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Right?

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The very French idea that there
is some consciousness above the

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individual consciousnesses--
this has formulated so

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powerfully the first time by
Montesquieu.

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And he actually said as
civilization is progressing,

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the influence of the natural
conditions declines,

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and the importance of general
spirits increases.

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Or to put it with Durkheim,
the collective conscience

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becomes more and more important.

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I'll just foreshadow,
that you have a sense that this

21:24.019 --> 21:25.569
course really hangs together.

21:25.567 --> 21:26.047
Right?

21:26.048 --> 21:28.818
We are not talking about
separate authors;

21:28.818 --> 21:32.858
we are talking about a set of
authors who are talking to each

21:32.856 --> 21:34.666
other, debating each other.

21:34.673 --> 21:35.283
Right?

21:35.279 --> 21:38.389
That's, I think,
what is so fascinating about

21:38.394 --> 21:41.444
the foundations of modern social
thought.

21:41.440 --> 21:45.520
That cannot be said about
twenty or twenty-first century

21:45.520 --> 21:48.930
social theorizing,
where we are at each other's

21:48.933 --> 21:51.313
throats and we ignore each
other.

21:51.308 --> 21:52.198
Right?

21:52.200 --> 21:55.330
That's more typical.

21:55.328 --> 21:59.058
Okay, as I said,
he's a methodological

21:59.055 --> 22:00.355
collectivist.

22:00.363 --> 22:01.273
Right?

22:01.269 --> 22:03.679
And I just explained this to
you a little,

22:03.679 --> 22:04.149
right?

22:04.150 --> 22:08.280
A methodological individualist
who begins--in order to develop

22:08.284 --> 22:11.674
a conception of society,
you have to start with the

22:11.673 --> 22:14.003
individual;
the only reality,

22:14.000 --> 22:18.240
what you can observe in
individual action and individual

22:18.239 --> 22:19.549
consciousness.

22:19.548 --> 22:21.958
Everything else,
what you suggest,

22:21.963 --> 22:23.063
is speculative.

22:23.060 --> 22:23.720
Right?

22:23.720 --> 22:27.560
This is British individualism
and empiricism.

22:27.560 --> 22:28.260
Right?

22:28.259 --> 22:32.399
The French emphasizes there are
stuff, like law.

22:32.400 --> 22:36.880
This is why the legal system,
the law, is so important for

22:36.878 --> 22:37.978
Montesquieu.

22:37.980 --> 22:42.100
That's why the major book is
called The Spirit of

22:42.103 --> 22:46.513
Law because the law is not
simply a sum total of individual

22:46.509 --> 22:47.789
consciousness.

22:47.788 --> 22:51.548
It stands over us,
and we get into a society and

22:51.548 --> 22:55.308
the law, the legal system
already does exist.

22:55.308 --> 22:57.358
We will see Durkheim does the
same thing;

22:57.358 --> 23:00.318
this is why the legal system is
so important for him.

23:00.318 --> 23:06.428
Okay, now let's move into the
first theme and talk about the

23:06.426 --> 23:09.736
different forms of government.

23:09.740 --> 23:17.060
Well he makes a distinction
between republican government,

23:17.058 --> 23:21.038
monarchy, and despotic state.

23:21.038 --> 23:25.238
Republican government,
in his definition,

23:25.240 --> 23:29.860
means that either the people
rule--democracy,

23:29.863 --> 23:32.173
or a subset of people.

23:32.173 --> 23:33.333
Right?

23:33.328 --> 23:40.578
Aristocracy has the sovereign
power--are the source of law.

23:40.578 --> 23:43.348
As we will see,
he is not all that certain

23:43.346 --> 23:46.046
whether the people rule is all
that good.

23:46.045 --> 23:46.715
Right?

23:46.720 --> 23:50.510
He prefers sort of selected
aristocracy.

23:50.509 --> 23:52.499
It will be even true for
Rousseau;

23:52.500 --> 23:54.730
he's much more radical than he
is.

23:54.730 --> 24:00.490
Monarchy, in which one alone
governs, but by fundamental

24:00.487 --> 24:01.217
laws.

24:01.220 --> 24:04.350
The monarchy itself is bound by
laws.

24:04.348 --> 24:09.468
A despotic state,
there are no fundamental rules.

24:09.467 --> 24:10.317
Right?

24:10.318 --> 24:14.868
A despot exercises its power at
its will.

24:14.868 --> 24:19.948
Adolph Hitler's Germany,
or Stalin's Russia or Soviet

24:19.945 --> 24:26.385
Union, are despotic states where
there is no proper rule of law.

24:26.390 --> 24:28.980
Now about the republic.

24:28.980 --> 24:31.870
Well, as we said,
there are two forms of it:

24:31.869 --> 24:35.029
the democratic and then the
aristocratic one.

24:35.029 --> 24:39.019
In the democratic,
you have a selection of people

24:39.019 --> 24:40.599
to office by lot.

24:40.598 --> 24:43.558
Well he's not talking about
elections, but by lot.

24:43.558 --> 24:47.238
And indeed, in Greek
democracies, people were

24:47.239 --> 24:52.089
occasionally selected to major
offices in Ancient Greece by

24:52.089 --> 24:53.929
lot, by a lottery.

24:53.930 --> 24:56.860
In aristocracy,
people are selected by choice.

24:56.858 --> 24:57.378
Right?

24:57.380 --> 25:02.090
The best people get into the
office where they have the best

25:02.092 --> 25:03.692
skills to perform.

25:03.690 --> 25:06.110
Well he said,
well everyone can vote,

25:06.108 --> 25:09.738
but not everybody's prepared to
serve in the office.

25:09.740 --> 25:16.600
That speaks for aristocracy by
choice.

25:16.598 --> 25:21.238
But whatever the republic is,
there is a principle:

25:21.240 --> 25:24.210
legitimacy is based on virtue.

25:24.210 --> 25:26.680
The person who serves should be
virtuous.

25:26.683 --> 25:27.183
Right?

25:27.180 --> 25:32.010
And if the virtuousness of the
person is questioned then,

25:32.011 --> 25:37.191
you know, the legitimacy of the
person is in some trouble;

25:37.190 --> 25:39.780
verbally, the virtuousness.

25:39.779 --> 25:42.349
Remember Bill Clinton?

25:42.348 --> 25:45.878
He ran into some trouble,
you know, because people

25:45.881 --> 25:49.771
started to question his
virtuousness in the very narrow

25:49.773 --> 25:51.363
sense of the term.

25:51.358 --> 25:54.658
Okay, anyway that's the guiding
principle.

25:54.660 --> 25:56.330
Then monarchy.

25:56.328 --> 26:00.778
Well here the prince has a
sovereign power--is the source

26:00.784 --> 26:01.504
of law.

26:01.500 --> 26:05.160
But once the law is
established, the prince has to

26:05.155 --> 26:06.495
follow that law.

26:06.500 --> 26:07.750
That's monarchy.

26:07.750 --> 26:11.150
And the principle here is honor.

26:11.150 --> 26:16.180
The prince has to be honorable,
in order to be obeyed.

26:16.180 --> 26:19.740
Again, the basis of legitimacy
is honor.

26:19.740 --> 26:22.380
And despotism,
as we have seen,

26:22.377 --> 26:26.777
the one who governs can do
whatever it wants to do,

26:26.777 --> 26:28.267
is above the law.

26:28.271 --> 26:29.241
Right?

26:29.240 --> 26:34.870
And what is the principle of
despotic rule?

26:34.869 --> 26:36.399
Fear, right?

26:36.400 --> 26:42.160
You obey those in power because
you fear them.

26:42.160 --> 26:46.830
Well the next theme is
separation of power.

26:46.829 --> 26:50.919
And we see the three powers.

26:50.920 --> 26:54.470
Well there are the legislative
power,

26:54.470 --> 26:57.700
executive power,
and we will see,

26:57.700 --> 27:03.210
the power to judge later on--
executive power over things,

27:03.211 --> 27:06.191
depending on the right of
nations;

27:06.190 --> 27:10.830
executive power over things,
depending on civil rights.

27:10.828 --> 27:18.748
He said the first power,
legislative power,

27:18.748 --> 27:28.928
in fact, can be exercised by a
king or a magistrate;

27:28.930 --> 27:32.800
it can be exercised by even an
elected body.

27:32.798 --> 27:37.098
But the second one,
executive power,

27:37.095 --> 27:41.875
well it has to be executed,
he believed,

27:41.881 --> 27:44.951
usually by a monarch.

27:44.950 --> 27:49.870
And there is the last power,
the power of judging,

27:49.873 --> 27:55.303
which has to be separated from
both the legislative and

27:55.299 --> 27:57.309
executive power.

27:57.308 --> 27:59.868
Let's see the argument,
what he puts forward.

27:59.868 --> 28:03.428
He said when the legislative
power is united with the

28:03.429 --> 28:06.029
executive power in a single
person,

28:06.028 --> 28:12.368
there is no liberty because one
can fear that the same monarch

28:12.372 --> 28:18.512
who makes tyrannical rules will
execute them in a tyrannical

28:18.506 --> 28:19.646
manner.

28:19.650 --> 28:23.830
So therefore you have to
separate legislative and

28:23.826 --> 28:25.476
executive powers.

28:25.480 --> 28:28.210
Well this separation is not
complete,

28:28.210 --> 28:33.430
because it takes time for the
legislative body to pass laws,

28:33.430 --> 28:36.720
and therefore very often
executives,

28:36.720 --> 28:42.740
even in the United States,
operate with executive orders.

28:42.740 --> 28:43.600
Right?

28:43.598 --> 28:50.748
These executive orders kind of
substitute for laws or legal

28:50.752 --> 28:52.482
regulations.

28:52.480 --> 28:56.780
So the separation,
even in a modern society like a

28:56.776 --> 28:59.316
United States,
is relative.

28:59.318 --> 29:03.268
And, in fact,
many constitutional lawyers in

29:03.266 --> 29:07.946
the United States were concerned
during the last two

29:07.946 --> 29:12.536
administrations that the
executive branch too often

29:12.536 --> 29:19.806
operated by executive orders,
rather than to ask the

29:19.806 --> 29:27.916
legislature to legislate about
those things.

29:27.920 --> 29:33.150
Okay.

29:33.150 --> 29:41.220
Now then he goes on and he
said, look, this is not really a

29:41.215 --> 29:46.635
question of republic versus
monarchy.

29:46.640 --> 29:52.220
He said, look--in his times--in
most kingdoms of Europe the

29:52.223 --> 29:55.213
government is quite moderate.

29:55.210 --> 30:03.610
He said, well the prince who
exercises the first two powers,

30:03.613 --> 30:11.593
well leaves a great deal of
autonomy for its subjects.

30:11.588 --> 30:15.598
In the Italian republics--they
are republics of his time,

30:15.598 --> 30:19.568
eighteenth century--the powers
are united and there is less

30:19.569 --> 30:22.719
liberty actually in these
Italian republics.

30:22.720 --> 30:28.050
Well it's an interesting point.

30:28.049 --> 30:33.959
Now about the legislative power.

30:33.960 --> 30:39.110
He said, well it's better to be
an elected body which exercises

30:39.112 --> 30:42.922
the legislative power,
passes the laws,

30:42.920 --> 30:48.870
and--we come close to the idea
of universal suffrage--

30:48.868 --> 30:53.048
in choosing the representative,
all citizens should have the

30:53.046 --> 30:55.926
right to vote--
and then comes the

30:55.931 --> 31:01.161
qualification--except whose
estate is so humble that they

31:01.162 --> 31:05.182
are deemed to have no will of
their own.

31:05.180 --> 31:09.410
In order to have a will you
better be a property owner.

31:09.412 --> 31:10.042
Right?

31:10.038 --> 31:13.858
There is a suggestion here of
property qualification which was

31:13.863 --> 31:17.253
quite dominant in the United
States until the twentieth

31:17.248 --> 31:17.748
century.

31:17.750 --> 31:18.440
Right?

31:18.440 --> 31:28.160
But, on the other hand,
he elaborates on it,

31:28.160 --> 31:30.840
people should not enter
government,

31:30.838 --> 31:35.498
except to choose their
representatives because in order

31:35.503 --> 31:40.503
to be in the executive,
you need skills.

31:40.500 --> 31:44.350
Well you may know who could be
the right person to run the

31:44.346 --> 31:47.646
office, but you may not be able
to run the office.

31:47.654 --> 31:48.334
Right?

31:48.329 --> 31:50.989
That's the fundamental idea.

31:50.990 --> 31:59.630
Well it's also important that
this representative body,

31:59.630 --> 32:07.150
the legislature,
should be separated from actual

32:07.150 --> 32:08.910
action.

32:08.910 --> 32:11.710
Now comes the idea,
the right of minority.

32:11.710 --> 32:17.140
This is a novel idea,
cast in a very conservative

32:17.141 --> 32:17.821
way.

32:17.818 --> 32:20.488
But though it is cast in a
conservative,

32:20.490 --> 32:24.230
kind of feudal aristocratic
manner--

32:24.230 --> 32:29.290
an aristocrat is speaking--he's
formulating a very important

32:29.288 --> 32:32.978
principle that we are still
struggling with:

32:32.976 --> 32:37.856
how to defend the rights of
minorities against a despotism

32:37.863 --> 32:39.753
of the majority?

32:39.750 --> 32:46.960
Just because 51% voted one way
does not mean that 49% is wrong.

32:46.959 --> 32:47.889
Right?

32:47.890 --> 32:51.370
And the rights of that 49%,
or even just 1%,

32:51.374 --> 32:55.754
in some ways has to be
guaranteed, and that's what he's

32:55.749 --> 32:57.369
struggling with.

32:57.368 --> 33:02.508
Now here in this context--and
we'll put the citation on the

33:02.508 --> 33:05.328
Web;
so I don't want to read this

33:05.330 --> 33:09.750
very long citation--the argument
is for the nobility.

33:09.750 --> 33:13.620
He said, well the nobility has
more rights and therefore if

33:13.615 --> 33:16.275
they have more rights,
more stakes in it,

33:16.282 --> 33:18.552
they have more than one voice.

33:18.548 --> 33:22.468
Therefore the solution is a two
chamber solution:

33:22.471 --> 33:26.301
a chamber for the aristocrats,
an upper house,

33:26.298 --> 33:29.758
and a chamber popularly elected
by everyone,

33:29.759 --> 33:34.069
a lower house--well not in the
aristocratic sense,

33:34.068 --> 33:38.638
but in some ways representing
the defense of small states,

33:38.640 --> 33:41.570
and agrarian states.

33:41.568 --> 33:45.648
This is why the Unites States
Senate, every state sends two

33:45.652 --> 33:49.812
senators rather--irrespective of
the size of the population.

33:49.806 --> 33:50.506
Right?

33:50.509 --> 33:54.439
And therefore,
though not in a sort of

33:54.441 --> 33:58.881
feudalistic way,
as Montesquieu meant it,

33:58.883 --> 34:03.933
but it is- the whole
proposition is very much alive

34:03.932 --> 34:07.772
in our current political
practices.

34:07.769 --> 34:16.289
Okay, let me then move on and
talk about the executive power.

34:16.289 --> 34:20.449
Well the executive power should
be stable--

34:20.449 --> 34:23.779
that's why he believes it
better be in the hands of a

34:23.775 --> 34:27.145
monarch--
because the government needs

34:27.146 --> 34:28.856
immediate action.

34:28.860 --> 34:33.640
It cannot leave to a messy
congress to debate things all

34:33.643 --> 34:34.603
the time.

34:34.599 --> 34:40.099
The government has to act
instantly, and therefore it has

34:40.103 --> 34:42.073
to be in one hand.

34:42.070 --> 34:50.140
Well he elaborates a number of
limits of legislative power.

34:50.139 --> 34:52.679
Some of it applies to the
United States;

34:52.679 --> 34:55.819
others don't,
but may apply to Western

34:55.820 --> 34:57.010
democracies.

34:57.010 --> 35:00.150
It should convene at regular
intervals,

35:00.150 --> 35:03.030
and that's quite true for all
democratic states,

35:03.030 --> 35:11.410
the legislature is called very
often and with some regularity.

35:11.409 --> 35:15.669
Well it should not be in
session without interruption.

35:15.670 --> 35:20.740
The U.S. Congress is
virtually in session almost

35:20.735 --> 35:23.425
without interruption.

35:23.429 --> 35:27.149
But other parliaments in
Continental Europe are not

35:27.152 --> 35:28.422
necessarily so.

35:28.420 --> 35:33.310
The reason is that they don't
want to make membership in the

35:33.313 --> 35:37.963
legislature the sole source of
occupation and income--

35:37.960 --> 35:40.830
and there are things which
speaks for this idea,

35:40.829 --> 35:45.269
that the legislature is not in
permanent session.

35:45.268 --> 35:48.608
And then he said it should not
have the right to convene

35:48.612 --> 35:49.162
itself.

35:49.159 --> 35:52.079
Well the U.S. Congress
convenes itself,

35:52.077 --> 35:55.607
it doesn't need the call of the
executive.

35:55.610 --> 35:57.440
But in England,
for instance,

35:57.443 --> 36:01.183
it is the queen who dissolves
the parliament and calls the

36:01.175 --> 36:03.135
session of the parliament.

36:03.139 --> 36:08.279
Doesn't give her much power,
but nevertheless the idea,

36:08.280 --> 36:12.950
the Montesquieuian idea,
is present in a number of

36:12.945 --> 36:15.225
Western democracies.

36:15.230 --> 36:18.560
Now regular intervals;
that's obvious,

36:18.559 --> 36:19.279
right?

36:19.280 --> 36:23.200
It should not be left to the
executive, especially the

36:23.195 --> 36:27.625
executive has the right to call
into session the legislature.

36:27.630 --> 36:28.370
Right?

36:28.369 --> 36:33.809
That may mean the executive
will not call when new laws are

36:33.809 --> 36:36.999
needed and will become despotic.

36:37.000 --> 36:45.080
That's why it has to be called
by regular intervals.

36:45.079 --> 36:51.239
Now and it should not be in
session without interruption

36:51.242 --> 36:57.302
because he said it would
overburden the executive power

36:57.295 --> 36:58.635
as well.

36:58.639 --> 37:01.819
And it cannot convene itself,
he said--

37:01.820 --> 37:05.620
and the arguments are
known--because if it would have

37:05.621 --> 37:09.351
the right to decide whether it
dissolves itself,

37:09.349 --> 37:13.069
it will never dissolve itself;
that's the fundamental argument

37:13.070 --> 37:13.440
here.

37:13.440 --> 37:16.750
As I said, in many countries
this is exercised his way.

37:16.750 --> 37:20.410
Now the executive,
he said, should be able to

37:20.407 --> 37:22.817
check over the legislature.

37:22.820 --> 37:27.310
And in what way?

37:27.309 --> 37:32.399
Because it doesn't want the
legislature to paralyze the

37:32.396 --> 37:34.936
action of the government.

37:34.940 --> 37:40.980
And the main way how the
executive exercises checks over

37:40.983 --> 37:46.813
the legislature is the veto
right of the executive;

37:46.809 --> 37:51.599
exactly like it is done in the
U.S. Constitution,

37:51.601 --> 37:52.601
right?

37:52.599 --> 37:56.409
The President can veto laws
which are passed by Congress,

37:56.413 --> 37:59.953
has to send back to Congress,
and the Congress has to

37:59.954 --> 38:02.614
overrule the veto of the
President.

38:02.610 --> 38:08.460
There is a clear check of the
executive over the legislature.

38:08.460 --> 38:09.240
Right?

38:09.239 --> 38:14.099
The executive has the
possibility to remind the

38:14.103 --> 38:19.923
legislature, this may be a bad
idea to pass this law;

38:19.920 --> 38:24.760
you better rethink it before it
becomes a law.

38:24.760 --> 38:28.130
Well checks and balances over
the executive branch.

38:28.130 --> 38:31.100
He is quite a conservative here.

38:31.099 --> 38:37.499
He said the executive power
belongs to the legislative,

38:37.503 --> 38:42.013
only through its faculty of
vetoing.

38:42.010 --> 38:52.180
The executive power--it's very
important--enacts the rising of

38:52.184 --> 39:00.864
public funds only with the
consent of legislature.

39:00.860 --> 39:04.360
This is again a very important
principle ruling all

39:04.364 --> 39:08.224
democracies--that the budgets
have to be approved by the

39:08.217 --> 39:09.337
legislature.

39:09.340 --> 39:14.830
Just see the mess what we have
seen in California recently,

39:14.826 --> 39:19.836
where the legislature was not
giving the budget to the

39:19.840 --> 39:21.070
governor.

39:21.070 --> 39:25.380
But this is certainly a very
important principle of

39:25.376 --> 39:26.406
democracy.

39:26.409 --> 39:33.189
And now let me come to the
question of environment and

39:33.193 --> 39:41.003
society, and the whole idea that
the physical conditions shape

39:41.003 --> 39:43.823
social conditions.

39:43.820 --> 39:47.690
And let me give you a couple
of, as I said,

39:47.693 --> 39:49.543
quite silly notes.

39:49.539 --> 39:54.349
He said that "spirit and
passion are extremely different

39:54.347 --> 39:58.857
in various climates,
laws should be relative to the

39:58.862 --> 40:02.162
differences in these
passions."

40:02.159 --> 40:05.529
And now comes the real silly
one.

40:05.530 --> 40:11.110
"In cold climate,
the blood is pushed harder

40:11.106 --> 40:13.426
forward the heart.

40:13.429 --> 40:17.799
This produces confidence in
oneself, and courage,

40:17.798 --> 40:20.438
and better knowledge."

40:20.440 --> 40:26.230
So you are more courageous,
more active and smarter if you

40:26.231 --> 40:31.721
live in cold climates,
like in France or in England.

40:31.719 --> 40:37.669
People in hot countries are
"timid, like old men."

40:37.670 --> 40:43.390
I'm not all that timid. Okay.

40:43.389 --> 40:46.909
And then interestingly,
you know, to sort of distance

40:46.911 --> 40:49.931
himself from racism--
and that's a term which did not

40:49.934 --> 40:53.384
exist in his time--
he said even the children of

40:53.382 --> 40:59.112
Europeans born inside the Indies
lose the courage of the European

40:59.106 --> 41:00.086
climate.

41:00.090 --> 41:05.590
Well, at least it is not based
on a racial argument,

41:11.306 --> 41:12.706
argument.

41:12.710 --> 41:15.890
But let me emphasize,
there is fantastic insight

41:15.891 --> 41:16.841
here, right?

41:16.840 --> 41:21.520
For another 200,
nobody took the environment

41:21.523 --> 41:24.123
seriously;
I mean, with the exception of

41:25.139 --> 41:28.369
We will talk about this when we
talk about Durkheim,

41:28.371 --> 41:30.021
coming from Montesquieu.

41:30.018 --> 41:32.768
For Durkheim,
Montesquieu and Rousseau were

41:32.771 --> 41:33.361
the gods.

41:33.360 --> 41:33.950
Right?

41:33.949 --> 41:37.759
That's where modern theory of
society came from.

41:37.760 --> 41:42.220
It was Montesquieu and
Rousseau, both of them.

41:42.219 --> 41:47.829
So, and now about the
"general spirit."

41:47.829 --> 41:52.099
He said, well many things
govern man: climate,

41:52.099 --> 41:56.309
religion, laws,
the maxims of government,

41:56.309 --> 42:00.969
mores and manners--there is
this all adds together,

42:00.969 --> 42:04.699
a general spirit,
which is formed as a result.

42:04.704 --> 42:05.374
Right?

42:05.369 --> 42:10.119
I hope you get the idea of the
general spirit that there is a

42:10.119 --> 42:14.789
set of ideas which is above our
individual consciousness.

42:14.789 --> 42:19.799
In childhood we learn,
we internalize those ideas.

42:19.800 --> 42:22.210
It is not coming from the
individual;

42:22.210 --> 42:25.940
it is entering the individual
in the process of education.

42:25.936 --> 42:26.456
Right?

42:26.460 --> 42:29.730
And therefore,
the argument what Montesquieu

42:29.726 --> 42:32.606
makes,
repeated by Rousseau and

42:32.614 --> 42:36.604
Durkheim, that we can have,
and should have,

42:36.603 --> 42:40.333
an idea of society or
collective consciousness

42:40.329 --> 42:43.889
extending over and above the
individual.

42:43.889 --> 42:49.329
This is a big debate which
informs most of the debates in

42:49.329 --> 42:51.659
social sciences today.

42:51.659 --> 42:55.019
In economics,
in political science,

42:55.018 --> 42:57.738
in sociology,
in anthropology,

42:57.739 --> 43:02.239
you have some scholars who
regard themselves--

43:02.239 --> 43:04.939
in an economics
few--methodological

43:04.938 --> 43:09.458
collectivists and those who call
themselves methodological

43:09.461 --> 43:13.371
individualists;
rational choice people are the

43:13.369 --> 43:15.849
methodological individualists.

43:15.849 --> 43:19.479
The cultural analysts are
methodological collectivists,

43:19.481 --> 43:20.021
right?

43:20.018 --> 43:22.968
We have that distinction
virtually everywhere;

43:22.969 --> 43:24.809
as I said, the least in
economics.

43:24.809 --> 43:31.219
But even in economics you have
the institutionalists who are on

43:31.221 --> 43:37.011
the edge of between being
methodological collectivists or

43:37.012 --> 43:41.152
being methodological
individualists.

43:41.150 --> 43:46.130
And then well he says as
civilization unfolds,

43:46.126 --> 43:52.426
the importance of the general
spirit is increasing and the

43:52.429 --> 43:56.299
impact of climate is declining.

43:56.300 --> 43:59.900
Not that climate doesn't
matter, but over time its

43:59.902 --> 44:04.242
importance declines and the
importance of general experience

44:04.239 --> 44:05.269
increases.

44:05.269 --> 44:07.499
Well that's about it for today.

44:07.500 --> 44:08.710
Thank you.

44:08.710 --> 44:18.000