Abstract

FILGUEIRAS, Fernando. Montesquieu, Tocqueville and the Corruption of the Republic . Frónesis [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.2, pp.319-339. ISSN 1315-6268.

This article compares the topic of corruption in politics according to Montesquieu and Tocqueville, in order to understand its concept and scope together with the modern political order. In view of theoretical approaches, the study states that Montesquieu and Tocqueville start from the problem of the decline of virtue to think about the problem of corruption in modern republics, in order to find different solutions in the normative plan of their political philosophies. The contribution of this article is to think about the scope of corruption in modern politics, with an eye to conceptual innovation and the methodological approach of Montesquieu and Tocqueville for modern political philosophy.

Keywords : Montesquieu; Tocqueville; corruption; republic; virtues.