Legal despotism
The concept of legal despotism (French: despotisme légal) formed part of the basis of the 18th-century French physiocrats' political doctrine, developed alongside their more popularly known (in modern day) economic thought. This political concept was first introduced by the èconomiste François Quesnay (1694–1774) in his 1767 treatise Despotism in China (French: Le despotisme de la Chine) and followed in development that same year by Pierre-Paul Lemercier (1719–1801) in his text, The Natural and Essential Order of Political Societies (L'Ordre naturel et essentiel des sociétés politiques).