联省自治为何未能发展到联邦制——从中美宪政文化角度比较

The Failed Transition from Joint Provincial Autonomy to Federalism:An Comparation of the Constitutional Cultures in China and America

20世纪20年代的联省自治运动是一次转变中国纵向权力结构的尝试,它的兴起与当时联邦制、地方自治的思潮密切相关,然而这次尝试最终并没有走向学者所鼓吹的美国式联邦制,原因在于中国并不具备扎根于美利坚土壤上的宪政文化——自由主义传统、契约精神、法治传统。这种自下而上以社会契约为基础的政权结构形式要想在中国取得成功仍需时日。

The campaign of joint provincial autonomy in China during the 1920s was an attempt to transform the country＇s vertical power structure. The development of the campaign was closely related to the popular ideas of federalism and local autonomy at that time. However, the attempt did not lead to the American-styled federalism advocated by the scholars. This is not because China＇s lack of a constitutional culture similar to that of American, which includes a liberal tradition, the spirit of contract and the rule of law. It just takes a long time before the regime based on a bottom-up social contract achieves success in China.