主权与分权的现代和解——对现代宪法政治理论的政治思想史考察

Modern Reconciliation between Sovereignty and the Separation of Powers——A Study on Modern Constitutionalism from the Perspective of History of Political Thought

主权权威与分权机制是现代宪法政治理论的两个核心构成要件,彼此之间形成了动态的和谐关系。不过在现代早期,主权概念是依托绝对主义话语建立的,以至于博丹、霍布斯和孟德斯鸠都断定二者在根本上是矛盾的。然而,主权的公共性在实践逻辑上要求刚性的制度控制来规范权力的使用,以防止主权被私有化、国家被家产化。只有对绝对主义主权概念进行结构性调整,实现主权者的虚位化之后,才能达至主权与分权的现代和解,然后才能依靠分权制衡机制来保证主权的公共性。洛克基本完成了这一理论改造工作,但并不彻底。只有到了《联邦论》,完全的现代宪法政治理论才真正形成。

Sovereignty and the separation of powers are two key components of modern constitutionalism between whom a dynamic harmonious relationship exists. However,in the early modern period,the idea of sovereignty was based on the discourse of absolutism such that Bodin,Hobbes and Montesquieu asserted that they were fundamentally conflicting. But the practical logic of the publicness of sovereignty requires a rigid institutional control to normalize the use of power,and to prevent the privatization of sovereignty and the patrimonialization of state. Only after making a structural adjustment of absolutist sovereignty and realizing the virtualization of the sovereign can the modern reconciliation between sovereignty and the separation of powers be achieved,and then the publicness of sovereignty can be ensured by the mechanism of the separation and balance of powers. John Locke almost completed the work of theoretical transformation,but did not finish it thoroughly. Only in the Federalist Papers was the complete modern constitutionalism actually born.