”The misfortune of a republic is when intrigues are at an end; which happens when the people are gained by bribery and corruption: in this case they grow indifferent to public affairs, and avarice becomes their predominant passion. Unconcerned about the government and everything belonging to it, they quietly wait for their hire.”
- MONTESQUIE, The Spirit of the laws, 1748
UNESCO philosophy day competition – 2009: The Decline of Democracy
How should a state be run? This is an immensely hard question. There is no simple answer. All the existing political systems have their own strenghts and weaknesses. As it stands, demoracy is generally considered to be the best option currently available to us. Equality and justice are easy to accept; most people prefer not to be killed or robbed and to have enough money to survive. Montesquie, as many thinkers of his age did, considered republic to be the best form of governance. Republic could be defined as ”representation of the people, for the sake of the people, without the will of the people.” Representation, in the context of a republic, commonly refers to influential landowners and the similar representing the whole of the people.
Obviously a lot of time has passed since Montesqueie presented his ideas. We have replaced the republic with democracy. However, It would be an oversimplification as well as a case of intellectual lazyness to merely forget about ”old” ideas. It would seem that in this extract Montesquie is proposing a model of governance in which values and principles hold the state together: ” : in this case they grow indifferent to public affairs, and avarice becomes their predominant passion. Unconcerned about the government and everything belonging to it, they quietly wait for their hire.” In Montesquie´s model the state is based on universal participation in the public affairs. Once the people grow wealthy and comfortable, they also become increasingly disinterested in the public affairs. This is the decline of the republic, since the republic is dependent on common participation.
( Read more )