Montesquieu – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

This painting depicts the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The Founding Fathers leaned on French philosopher Montesquieu as they designed the Constitution. GraphicaArtis/Archive Photos via Getty

July 2, 2026

As the US turns 250, a forgotten founding influence helps explain its current unease

Robert A. Ballingall, University of Maine

Montesquieu shaped how Americans understood liberty, and his warning about a ‘tyranny of opinion’ speaks to today’s polarization.

Without the series of essays known as The Federalist, the U.S. Constitution might never have been ratified. wingedwolf, iStock/Getty Images Plus

June 8, 2026

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, The Federalist remains an indispensable guide to understanding the constitutional system and the nation’s enduring independence

Jordan Cash, Michigan State University

You know how important the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were to making the United States. But do you know about The Federalist and the crucial role it played in the founding era?

A Harper’s Weekly image of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. MPI/Getty Images

May 4, 2026

A democracy or a republic? History shows that some Americans are asking the wrong question

Barbara Clark Smith, Smithsonian Institution

Is the US a democracy or a republic? That’s a misleading question, writes a historian of early America. The values of republicanism and the values of democracy have both been vital to the nation.

May 12, 2021

Guide to the Classics: Montesquieu’s Persian Letters at 300 — an Enlightenment story that resonates in a time of culture wars

Knox Peden, The University of Queensland

In this influential novel, two Persians travel to Paris and report their bemusement at its customs. Questions such as the dilemmas of tolerance and the social nature of our identities are explored.

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