2.1. 1. Of the Nature of the three different Governments.
There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and
despotic. In order to discover their nature, it is sufficient to
recollect the common notion, which supposes three definitions, or rather
three facts: that a republican government is that in which the body, or
only a part of the people, is possessed of the supreme power; monarchy,
that in which a single person governs by fixed and established laws; a
despotic government, that in which a single person directs everything by
his own will and caprice.
This is what I call the nature of each government; we must now
inquire into those laws which directly conform to this nature, and
consequently are the fundamental institutions.
