日本明治前期的立宪主义思想争鸣

The Disputes over Constitutionalism in the Early Meiji Period

日本明治前期立宪主义思潮逐渐流行之后,面临必须召开国会和制定宪法的政治局势,社会上围绕有关立宪的诸种问题展开了思想争鸣。这些思想争鸣的内容包括立宪主体应当是在全日本至高无上的权威天皇,还是由人民通过选举而构成的议会;当时日本的立宪条件是否已经完全具备,即人民的教育、智识水平是否已达到立宪要求;立宪应当加速进行或者只能缓慢地逐渐推进;宪法保障人权功能究竟能达到多大程度;宪法限制以君权为代表的行政权力过度扩张所能发挥的作用等。此类思想争鸣不仅使近代化的立宪思想更加深入人心,导致立宪主义思潮更加广泛地在日本流行;而且通过争鸣,代表不同利益集团的各种政治思想达到相对平衡的状态,对以后包含各种政治利益诉求的明治宪法的制定,乃至对日本战后政治体制的选择,产生了深远影响。

In the early Meiji period,with the dissemination of constitutionalism,there was the urgency of the establishment of the Diet and the Constitution of Japan.Also,disputes over relevant issues were widespread and intense,including whether the constitution should be sanctioned by the Emperor or the Diet representing the people,whether the precondition for constitutionalism was adequate,the scope of human rights guaranteed by the constitution,the role of the Emperor under constitutionalism,etc.Not only these arguments facilitated the promulgation of constitutionalism,they also had immense influence on the formulation of the constitution.