The most well-known elements of Montesquieu’s political thought are his liberal constitutionalism and his emphasis on the need for a fit between a regime and a populace. But scholars have rarely sought to understand the theoretical relationship between these elements, and some have denied that they are meaningfully related at all. I argue that Montesquieu’s liberal constitutionalism and his political particularism are theoretically harmonious and mutually reinforcing elements of a unified project. Montesquieu’s liberal political philosophy possesses in-built sources of resistance to the rationalistic and universalistic political projects often associated with modern liberalism.
The Storeys have undoubtedly written a splendid book. Its excellence lies not only in the authors’ ability to bring to light the thoughts of their subjects but in their own powerful social criticism folded into the analysis throughout.
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