中国传统政体问题续谈

A Further Reflection on the Type of Political Systems in Imperial China

清末民初的"专制"概念有一个中性义涵,这个义涵构成了各派政治论辩的共同前提。孟德斯鸠综合了权力分置和中间阶层两点以区分政体,在方法论上具有指导意义。孟德斯鸠未及充分考虑官僚制的问题,而20世纪的政治学研究,日益把官僚制视为一个决定政体的因素。在判断政体时,亚里士多德和孟德斯鸠的"依法统治"提法,在中文语境中有含糊性,不妨以"依宪执政"之类表述取而代之。

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the neutral meaning of ＂dictatorship＂ , a concept referred to as a type of governmental system, became the common premise of the political debate among various political groups. Montesquieu combined two viewpoints, that is, the structure of the political organization and the structure of the intermediate powers, to classify the forms of government, which was a great progress of methodological significance. However, Montesquieu did not take bureaucracy into account, which had been considered as one of the important factors determining the type of political systems since the 20th century. As the conception of ＂rule by law＂ raised by Aristotle and Montesquieu may be confused with ＂rule of law＂ in Chinese context, ＂Rule by the constitution＂ can be a much better choice.