现代民主政治中的家族政治——一种尝试性分析框架

Dynastic Politics in Democracies: A Tentative Theoretic Framework

现代家族政治是指在自由民主制度框架下,某些家族的成员由于拥有特殊的资源,能够连续当选并掌握政权,使得权力在某些家族内部呈现出代际延续的现象。家族政治的出现存在两大根源:地方政治经济中不平等的权力结构导致政治过程中庇护关系形成,政治家能够利用家族资源获得特定群体的稳定支持,而某些家族成员的当选又成为该群体参与公共产品分配的前提;政党内部缺乏民主机制、外部缺少社会支持组织,党的候选人提名和资金筹集分配权力集中于党的领袖,使得家族能够发挥政党的替代性作用或导致政党被政治家族所控制。来自发达民主国家和发展中民主国家的证据表明,家族政治的存在是上述两种机制共同作用的结果。政治过程中的庇护关系越严重,家族政治越有可能出现;而政党组织越不发达,就越有可能为家族政治提供制度性机会。家族政治集中体现了西方民主政治中的权利不平等现象,它与现代民主政治的平等理念相悖,同时也有害于民主政府的质量。

Modern dynastic politics refers to the intergenerational hereditary transfer of political power between family members in democracies. Dynastic politics is rooted in the two phenomena. One is the inequality of power structures that induces the clientelistic linkages between politicians and voters in politics. The former uses family resources to get solid support from particular communities while the latter shares the distribution of the public goods that come from these dynastic candidates. The second phenomenon is the political parties that lack inner democracy and outer social supportive organizations.The right to select candidates and funding are concentrated in the party leaders; dynasties can replace parties. Evidence from democracies shows that dynastic politics are the outcomes of both mechanisms.The more serious the clientelistic politics are,the more likely it is that dynasties will emerge; the less organized the parties are,the less likely it is that the dynastic system will survive. Dynastic politics promotes inequality and is harmful to democracies.