有限政府之合法性论说

On The Legality of Limited Government

在现代立宪政体的规约下,有限政府是唯一合法存在的政府形态。近现代以来的观念变革首先从认识论上设定了政府认知能力的有限性,从而证成了政府职能与政府权力的有限性;同时,近现代以来的政治与法律实践决定了政府在本质上必须是民主政府与法治政府,前者从政治的角度决定了政府行为能力的有限性,后者从法律的角度决定了政府行动领域的有限性。

Under the control of modern constitutionalism, limited government is the only legal governmental mode. Modern ideal revolution firstly decided the limitation of cognitive ability of government, which proved the limitation of governmental power and governmental functions; Meanwhile, modern politics and law practice decided that government in essence should be democratic and ruled by law, the former decided the limitation of governmental capacity on the side of politics, while the latter decided the limitation of governmental acting zone on the side of law.