立宪改革的理想初衷和现实困境——试评布坎南的“政府失败论”及其救治方案

The Ideal of Constitutional Reform and Its Practical Dilemma——Buchanan's "Government Failure" and Its Remedy

詹姆斯.M.布坎南作为公共选择理论的创始人,其“政府失败论”是公共选择理论的一个核心主题。他认为,政府失败问题或资本主义政府干预行为的局限性是现代西方社会面临的种种困境的根源。为此,旨在制度选择分析的布坎南提出了一个建设性的救治方案———立宪改革,试图引导人们注意和重视宪法、规则,通过宪法选择和规则选择来确立一种有限政府。但是,布坎南所谓的立宪信念过于理想化,使得改革的现实性令人怀疑。在解读“政府失败论”的基础上,通过分析公共选择理论的逻辑出发点,试图对立宪改革的理论蓝图和现实困境作一详要述评。

As the founder of public choice theory, of which James M. Buchanan＇s idea of “government failure” is the core theme. Buchanan believes that government failure, in other words, the limit of government intervention is the root of various dilemmas that confront the modern western society. Therefore, Buchanan developed a constructive remedy proposal constitutional reform so as to induce ＂people to notice and accentuate rules, constitution, constitutional and rule choice＂ and establish a limited government. However, Buchanan’s idea of constitutional reform is over ideal, which puts the feasi bility into question. This paper, based on an analysis of ＂government failure＂, sets out a road map of constitutional reform theory and its practical dilemma through analyzing the logic start of the theory of public choice.