SOURCE: Krause, Sharon. “The Politics of Distinction and Disobedience: Honor and the Defense of Liberty in Montesquieu,” Polity 31, 3 (1999): 469-99.

In this essay, Kraus applies the philosophy of Montesquieu's De l'esprit des lois to modern American politics, arguing that his concept of honor is necessary to contain the growth of sovereign power and to protect individual liberties. Acknowledging that honor is not wholly virtuous, Krause suggests that honor nonetheless works to channel personal ambition for the public good instead of attempting to suppress self-interest altogether.

Why do men and women sometimes risk their necks to defend their liberties? Citizens with a strong sense of individual agency are crucial to liberal polities because, as Montesquieu pointed out, “any man who has power is led to abuse it. He continues until he finds limits.”¹ The problem of limiting political power is perhaps even more complex in the U.S. than it...