“When the legislative and executive powers are united… there can be no liberty”

This quote represents Montesquieu’s view on the idea of separation of power, which states that power should be distributed throughout the government in branches (executive, legislative, judiciary) so that if one branch started enacting tyrannical laws it could be checked by the other branches of the government.

When Montesquieu states that “there can be no liberty” because if one branch has too much power, then it becomes tyranny, therefore without separation of power within the government, society is forvever bound to living in constant tyranny, where the ruler has the right to do whatever he wants, checking the power of any opposition to him.