选举制与推举制——现代西方与儒家仁政的政治领袖产生机制之比较

Election by Voting in Western Constitutionalism vs. Election through Nominating in Confucian Government in Humanity

国内学界对于现代西方通过民主选举产生政治领袖的机制有很多讨论,但对儒家仁政的政治领袖产生机制则几乎没有涉及.这两种机制可以分别被称为选举制和推举制,它们基于两条不同的正义原则,即:通过选票表达公意的正义原则,和在君子之道中呈现民心的正义原则.选举制以选票为决定因素,忽略选票背后的责任意识,从而无视“公意”可能为恶的情况.推举制强调民心为政权之基,要求执政者必须保持君子身份,敬畏天命而体察民心,行君子之道.但是,民心的不确定性使得推举制下的权力运作,可能走向结构性腐败.对选举制和推举制进行平行考察,有助于更清晰地认识二者的基本思路、运作逻辑,及与之分别相应的社会发展模式的特征.

In Chinese scholarship there have been much discussion about western constitutionalism in which political leaders are elected by voting. Meanwhile, the Confucian system of electing political leaders which had been practiced in Chinese history have almost been ignored. In this paper, for convenience, I would brand these two political systems respectively the voting election and the nominating election. They are based on two different principles of justice, that is, conceiving the general will by votes, and presenting human will through the Dao of junzi. The voting election sees votes as the determining factor, ignoring the voter's consciousness of responsibility, and therefore excluding the possibility that the so-called general will may be evilly expressed. The nominating election regards human will as the foundation of government, demanding the political leaders to maintain themselves as junzi, respecting the heavenly endowment and pursuing to understand human will. Yet, the uncertainty of the understanding of human will allows the structural corruption in the nominating election system. In a paralleling comparative study between the voting election and the nominating election, in the regard to electing political leaders, may help us understand the basic principles and executive patterns within governmental models between West and East.