“To form a moderate government, one must combine powers, regulate them, temper them, make them act.”Montesquieu · Despre spiritul legilor · 1748 · Cartea V, Capitolul 14
A moderate government relies on actively balancing and coordinating powers, not merely separating them.
Montesquieu describes the art of moderate governance as an active balance among powers. It is not enough to separate them; you must coordinate them so that each limits the others. For example, in a democracy, the legislature makes laws, the executive enforces them, and the judiciary interprets them, and each has means to check the others' excesses. The mechanism prevents abusive concentration of authority.
Why it matters Today, this idea is fundamental for understanding democratic systems and how the separation of powers protects individual freedoms.