解释宪政:辛亥革命的制度论与文化论之辩

Interpretation of the Constitutionalism:A Discussion on System Determinism and Culture Determinism of XIN-HAI Revolution

辛亥革命是中国宪政史上的转捩点,它瓦解了传统的帝国,却没能顺利完成新的民族国家建构;它组建了共和政体,却没有带来共和与民主。与其说是传统文化阻碍了宪政的生长,不如说是迷信西方模式所造成的苦果。革命派和立宪派的争论,背后实际上隐喻着制度论与文化论的分野;在是否应当学习西方的问题上,它们既相通又冲突。只有将制度论的理性建构与文化论的经验累积有机统一起来,才能达致宪政的坦途。

The 1911 revolution is a historic turning point of China＇ s constitutionalism, which disintegrated the empire but failed to build a new nation state. A republican regime was set up by revolution though republic and democracy were not brought about accordingly. It would be a failure of blind faith on the western model rather than the traditional cultural impediment to the development of constitutionalism. The debate between revolutionaries and constitutionalists is actually a metaphor of differences between the system determin- ism and culture determinism. They interact as well as conflict with each other with regard to whether to learn from the west. Thus, the rational structure of system determinism and the experience of culture determinism should be integrated for the purpose of establishing a constitutional government.