Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Montesquieu developed the theory of separation of powers as a weapon to uphold the liberty of the general public. Given the large amount of responsibility the government has to uphold, he felt that such power rested on one person may leave too heavy of a mark on the people's human rights: as stated in his Spirit of Laws, "one who has too much of a thing will misuse it". The concentration of legislative, executive and judicial functions either in one single person or one single party results in abuse of authority, becoming somewhat tyrannical. He argued that the three organs of government should be so organized that each should be entrusted to different persons and that the distinct functions within the sphere of power assigned to each.