Use the passage below from Baron de Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws (1748) to answer the question:

An aristocratic government has an inherent vigour, unknown to democracy. The nobles form a body, who by their prerogative, and for their own particular interest, restrain the people; it is sufficient that there are laws in being to see them executed.

But easy as it may be for the body of the nobles to restrain the people, it is difficult to restrain themselves.

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Which inference about Montesquieu's ideas on government is not well supported by the passage?

A; Government should restrain people's excessive self interest

B; Each form of government has it's own drawbacks

C; Aristocracy is the best form of government

D; Different social groups have different character traits

Question

Vincent Simon

History

27 December, 01:21

Use the passage below from Baron de Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws (1748) to answer the question:

An aristocratic government has an inherent vigour, unknown to democracy. The nobles form a body, who by their prerogative, and for their own particular interest, restrain the people; it is sufficient that there are laws in being to see them executed.

But easy as it may be for the body of the nobles to restrain the people, it is difficult to restrain themselves.

Public Domain

Which inference about Montesquieu's ideas on government is not well supported by the passage?

A; Government should restrain people's excessive self interest

B; Each form of government has it's own drawbacks

C; Aristocracy is the best form of government

D; Different social groups have different character traits

+2

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Jamarcus Alexander · Answer 1

Not supported by the Montesquieu passage:

C: Aristocracy is the best form of government.

In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu outlined how different forms of government are workable in different situations. He was not advising that aristocracy is the best form of government. In fact, Montesquieu was one of the Enlightenment philosophers whose ideas were taken up by revolutionaries in the American colonies and in France, seeking to set up new forms of government that would operate as republics.