Plural Office-Holding in Massachusetts, 1760-1780: Its Relation to the Separation of Departments of Government

The author contends that the separation of powers in American government is not primarily based on the political theories of Montesquieu but on the actual experience of the colonists with the abuse of plural office-holding. Having tasted the bitter fruits of tyranny concentrated in the hands of one man and his family, the makers of the constitution provided against a recurrence of such evil.

Originally published in 1945.

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