宪法宣誓、人民主权与执政党的政治伦理

Constitutional Oath, Popular Sovereignty, and the Political Ethics of the Ruling Party

已有对宪法宣誓的研究,要么从比较法视角入手,侧重其与国际接轨的意义;要么从具体的宣誓程序着眼,侧重其制度设计的完善。若将宪法宣誓看作普法意义上的社会动员,探讨它与人民主权的内在关联,以及它对激活和更新执政党之政治伦理的意义,则会得出下述认识:第一,宪法宣誓制度包含着政治过程、法律过程和社会动员过程三个维度,政治过程是动因,法律过程是形式,社会动员过程是本质;因而它不是向宣誓者施加责任的法律机制,而是示范某种特定情感的社会仪式。第二,宪法宣誓既包含"向宪法宣誓",也包含"通过宪法来宣誓",宪法宣誓的聆听者不再只是宪法,而更多的是借由宪法而在场的"人民";宣誓者既是向结构化的人民宣誓,也是通过已结构化的人民向"人民本身"宣誓。第三,宪法宣誓的主体不仅代表其个人,而且也代表执政党向人民重申自身的政治伦理。第四,执政党政治伦理的激活必须直面宪法、历史和社会生活内在的多重复杂性。

Researches on the existing practice of constitutional oath should be carried out either from the perspective of comparative law, with emphasis being laid on the significance of its compatibility with international standards, or by focusing on concrete oath-taking procedure and the improvement of institutional design. This author treats constitutional oath as social mobilization in the sense of popularization of law, explores its inherent association with popular sovereignty and its significance in activating and updating the political ethics of the ruling party, and comes to the following four conclusions： firstly, the constitutional oath system has three dimensions： political process, legal process and the process of social mobilization. Political process is its cause, legal process its form, and the process of social mobilization its essence. Therefore, constitutional oath is not a legal mechanism for imposing legal obligations on the oath-taker, but a kind of social ritual for showing certain sentiment; secondly, constitutional oath means not only ＂taking an oath to the constitution＂, but also ＂taking an oath though the constitution＂. The recipients of constitutional oath are no longer merely the constitution, but also the ＂people＂ who are present though the constitution; thirdly, the subject of constitution oath represents not only himself as an individual, but also the ruling party and reaffirms to the people its political ethics ; and fourthly, in order to activate the political ethics of the ruling party, we must face the internal complexity of the constitution, history and social life.