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...