Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau were all philosophers of the enlightenment that had a big influence on government. Montesquieu's thoughts on the ideal government was three branches that kept the power divided. Voltaire believed in a Philosopher King who would rule fairly. Rousseau believed the form of government was direct democracy. These three philosophers impacted greatly on how people look at the government.
Voltaire had many influences on government. He was a supporter of social reform including the defence of civil rights, freedom of religion and free trade, despite the strict censorship laws and harsh penalties of the enlightenment, and made use of his satirical works to criticize Catholic principles and the French institutions of his day. He rejected formalized religion, which he saw as superstitious and irrational, although he was a deist, he believed in a supreme being. Voltaire emphasized reason, and hated democracy because he saw it as mob rule which could lead to anarchy. monarchy, informed by counsels of educated people, were best
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Like Montesquieu he feared the passion of common people would lead to mistakes in government, and he too disliked democracy. “In his novel Candide he expressed annoyance at people killing each other, and he described people as liars, cheats, traitors, brigands, weak, flighty, cowardly, envious, gluttonous, drunkenness, grasping, backbiting, debauched, fanatical, hypocritical and silly.” (World Encyclopedia ) But he also resented the aristocrats, and he thought himself the friend of peasants in this hierarchy. He spoke with admiration for William Penn and the Quakers. He thought too negatively about humanity to form the perfect society. He argued that the world would improve as ignorance and superstition were replaced by more knowledge, more reason, sympathy and more