孟德斯鸠论英国政制

Montesquieu on the Constitution of England

孟德斯鸠的政体学说意在找寻能恰当保障政治自由的宽和政体,英国政制作为超越德性共和国与荣誉君主制的自由政制则是最终答案。它既确保了充分的政治自由,又带来了十足的哲学自由,这根本上是因为其性质与原则之间形成了良性互动关系。在它那融合混合政体因素的分权制衡机制下,滥权倾向得到有效遏制,权力公共性获得稳定保障,由此人们拥有广阔公共领域。正是在这公共领域中,人们养成了自由的习性与精神,主动确保围绕立法权与执行权形成的派系竞争维持均势,从而使英国政制的权力架构在实践中保持均衡状态。

Montesquieu’s regime theory aims to find a moderate government that can appropriately guarantee political liberty.The Constitution of England,as the constitution of liberty beyond virtuous republics and glorious monarchies,is his final answer.It promises not only sufficient political liberty,but also brings with full philosophical liberty.Fundamentally,both these liberties result from a benign interactive relationship between the nature and principle of the Constitution of England.Under the mechanism of separation and balance of power blended with the elements of Mixed Regime Theory,the tendency of power abuse is effectively curbed,and the publicness of power is stably guaranteed,which thereby provides people with a broad public sphere.In this public sphere,people develop the spirit and habit of liberty,actively maintain the balance of faction competitions around the legislative and the executive which allow for an equilibrium of the structure of the Constitution of England through practice.