What were the similarities and differences between Montesquieu, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau's philosophies, ideas, and views on government?

Each of
these political philosophers was concerned with theorizing the best type of government. Each
generally argued that the best government was one most aligned with human nature. It was on this
point that they diverged, particularly Thomas Hobbes.

Hobbes argued that
because mankind was naturally suspicious and greedy, governments were formed to keep them from a
state of constant conflict. It followed, he wrote in Leviathan, that the
best possible government was an absolute monarchy, unanswerable to the popular will.

Montesquieu, on the other hand, argued for a divided government, one with separation of
powers between a monarch and a body dominated by nobles. He believed, more fundamentally, that
governments had to be created in accordance with the particular "spirit" of a
people.

Locke argued that government was based on a social contract, one in
which people willingly and freely determined to submit to government. Crucially, that government
had to protect the rights of individuals, or...