论西方大众民主与精英民主的交融与竞争——以欧洲公投制度为背景

On the Blending and Competition between Western Public Democracy and Elite Democracy

西方民主制度的竞争主要表现为大众民主与精英民主的竞争,而大众民主与精英民主的直接表现形式就是公投制度与议会决策。公投作为欧洲国家独特的制度,实行该制度的国家普遍具有权威性,而英国脱欧事件表明公投还兼具咨商性与建议性,公投只是代表选民的意见,投票的结果不能认为是对政府的命令,也不具有约束力。由此体现出精英民主与大众民主并非绝对对立,而是交融与竞争的关系,并且精英民主在国家决策中的意义与日俱增。

The competition in Western democratic systems is mainly embodied as the competition between public democracy and elite democracy. Public democracy and elite democracy are directly embodied as referendum system and parliamentary decision. Referendum is the unique system applied in European countries that enjoy general authorities. The event that Great Britain broke away from European Union reflects that referendum also shows the nature of consultation and suggestion. Referendum only represents voters＇ opinions, while the result cannot be regarded as the order to government and does not show controlling force. That shows that public democracy and elite democracy are not absolutely opposite, but blend and compete with each other, and elite democracy enjoys increasing significance in national decision.