近代法国宪政主义者对第三等级概念和历史的重构

Reconstruction of the Concept and History of the Third Estate by Constitutionalists in Modern France

西耶斯以及后大革命时期的宪政主义者从第三等级的来源、同质性以及社会和政治的地位与角色的角度,重构了第三等级的概念和历史。这些宪政主义者肯定第三等级是法兰克人征服高卢这一历史事件的社会产物,但逐渐放弃种族对立视角,从阶级视角来定义第三等级,以构建一个普遍同质的法兰西国族,为实施宪政提供政治基础。他们认为,第三等级有条件有能力完成将各等级及其内部各阶层整合进一个法兰西国族的历史使命,但也强调真正的政治自由与民主只有在君主制的框架中才能实现。他们力图通过重构第三等级的概念和历史,来回应政治革新的需求,阐释立宪君主制的正当性。然而,后大革命时期资产阶级出身的宪政主义者囿于自身的阶级立场,坚信第三等级的同质性,拒绝接受大革命后出现的新的社会现实,即原同属第三等级的资产阶级和无产阶级已演变为两个完全对立的阶级。

Sieyes,as well as constitutionalists of the post-revolutionary period,reconstructed the concept and history of the Third Estate in terms of its origins,homogeneity,and social and political status and role.Those constitutionalists affirmed that the Third Estate was a social product of the conquest of Gaul by the Franks.But they gradually abandoned the perspective of the racial antagonism and defined the Third Estate from a class perspective,constructing a generally homogeneous French nation and providing a political basis for the construction of a representative government.In their opinion,the Third Estate had the conditions and abilities to complete the historical mission of integrating the estates and their internal classes into a French nation.However,they emphasised that the true political freedom and democracy could be merely achieved within the monarchical framework.By reconstructing the concept and history of the Third Estate,they tried to respond to the needs of the political innovation and illustrate the legitimacy of a constitutional monarchy.Nevertheless,those constitutionalists of the post-revolutionary period had their limitations due to their bourgeois position,which guided them to insist on the homogeneity of the Third Estate.Moreover,they refused to accept that bourgeoisie and proletarian within the Third Estate have evolved into two diametrically opposing classes.