论西方自由主义宪政理论及其困境

On the Western Liberal Constitutional Theory And Its Dilemma

宪政在西方政治思想史上具有悠久的思想渊源。在本原意义上,宪政被认为追求两种核心价值的法律正义:一是确保公民的基本权利和政治自由,二是限制社会公共权力。作为一种捍卫个人自由的政治学说,宪政以宪法为基础,有限政府、分权制衡和法治是其基本的制度安排。自由主义宪政在制度安排上试图贯彻各种美好的理念,但在实际发展过程中却面临诸多困境,如私有财产权与代议制民主的冲突,个人权利与公民权利的冲突,民主与效率的冲突。宪政在个人与国家、个人与社会、自由与权威、权利与权力之间的关系上由两难导致困境,并最终背离自由主义宪政的初衷,最大的原因在于传统自由主义赖以建立的功利主义伦理基础。西方自由主义宪政要想摆脱困境,必须建立在与之相适应的道德哲学基础之上。

Constitutional government has a long history of political and ideological origins in the West. In the primitive sense, the pursuit of constitutional government were the two core values that the legal justice： First, to ensure that the fundamental rights of citizens and political freedoms;the second is restrictions on public power. To defend individual freedom as a political doctrine, constitutionalism is based on limited government, separation of powers and the rule of law. Liberal＇ constitutional institutional arrangements try to realize various good ideas, but are confronted with many dilemmas, such as the conflicts between private property rights and representative democracy; individual rights and civil rights; democracy and efficiency. The dilemma of the constitutional politics concerning the relationship between individual and nation,individual and society, freedom and authority,right and power,etc, leads itself to a puzzle dom and run counter to the original purpose of the liberal constitutional politics. The main reason for this lies in the utilitarianism,which forms the basis of the traditional liberalism. In order to get rid of these dilemmas,Western liberal constitutionalism must be built on the corresponding basis of moral philosophy.