英国政治改革:从贵族政体到民主政体

The UK's Political Reform: from Aristocracy to Democracy

英国政治智慧的体现之一是贵族政体向民主政体转化的平稳性,完成这一转变的方式是三次议会选举制度改革,一次次的阶级妥协形成了民主制度过渡的平稳性。漫长而又平稳的议会选举制度改革与英国特殊的文化传统有关,包括英国潜在的民主要素,即议会这种特殊的民主形式给民主制度的最终形成奠定了基础,还有悠久的法治传统给民主带来了持久的外在保障,在这些传统因素的基础上,资本主义经济发展带来的中产阶级和工人阶级力量的壮大使政治权力的封闭性遇到强大的压力。在各方政治势力的反复博弈过程中,英国以平稳而保守的方式形成了民主制度。

One of the UK＇s national political wisdom is the stability of its transformation from aristocracy into democracy. Three times in the parliamentary election system reform lead to such final shift with the repeated compromises among classes. The long and steady parliamentary election system reform is associated with UK＂ s special cultural tradition, including the potential democratic tradition, namely parliament. Such special dem-ocratic tradition gives UK democracy system a solid foundation. In addition, the long tradition of rule of law brings lasting external security to democracy. Based on these traditional factors, the middle class and working class become stronger during the capitalist economic development, which brings strong pressure to the closed political power. Finally, in the repeated political power games, the UK forms steadily and conservatively its democracy system.