卢梭政府理论的合法性论证——《社会契约论》卷三简释

On the Legitimacy of Rousseau's Government Theory:An Interpretation of Volume 3 of "The Social Contract"

卢梭的政府理论是我们思考现代民主政治的重要参考,这首先需要我们去理解卢梭论证政府的理路。贴近阅读卢梭《社会契约论》卷三,以其为线索可以区分出政府的形式合法性和实质合法性论证两方面。就形式合法性而言,政府是人民和法律的执行代理人;就实质合法性言之,自由政府才是合法统治的部分。同时,这种区分也是理解卢梭政府比例等式——主权者∶政府=政府:臣民的一个进路。卢梭政府理论的合法性论证,对我国建设法治型政府具有一定的参考意义。

Rousseau＇s theory of government is an important reference when we think about modem democratic politics, but first of all we need to understand the logic of Rousseau＇s argument on government. A close reading of Volume 3 of Rousseau＇s ＂The Social Contract＂ may give us a clue to distinguish the two sides of the argumentation on government： the formal legitimacy and the substantive legitimacy. As for the formal legitimacy, the government is the agent of people and law enforcement; as for the substantive legitimacy, only a free government is the legitimate rule. At the same time, this distinction gives us a way to understand Rousseau＇s equation of government： sovereign ： government = government ： subjects. To expound the legitimacy of Rousseau＇s theory of government can give us some indication during the construction of the law-based government in China.