Constitutional General Theory

Author: Bai Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Constitutionalism is a common achievement of human political civilization. Its understanding and practice are crucial to a nation's rise or fall. In recent years, constitutionalism has attracted significant attention from scholars in China, but the discussion has largely been confined to the legal field. The author argues that it should also be a subject of political science research. As constitutionalism has replaced autocratic regimes and become the form of governance and value goal of modern states, comparative constitutionalism research—exploring its structure, dynamics, practice, and experience—is an indispensable means to advance the constitutionalization process and a rational choice to further eliminate the remnants of authoritarianism and strengthen the construction of political civilization. The author has made a valuable attempt in this regard. Constitutionalism is a common achievement of human political civilization. "Historically, the emergence of constitutionalism has always been based on the rationale of defining the boundaries of state power and limiting those who govern. Constitutionalism is a more abstract concept than the rule of law or a, equivalent to the idea of a limited state. In a limited state, formal political power is subject to public legal control, and the recognition of these laws transforms political power into legally defined legitimate authority. It indicates that there is at least a distinction or opposition between the state and society, otherwise, there would be little reason to establish rules for the state." Like republicanism and democracy, constitutionalism is a value choice in modern political systems. Constitutionalism emphasizes the limitation and prevention of government power (state power); republicanism emphasizes the public nature, fairness, and neutrality of the government, highlighting that the government must serve everyone; while democracy emphasizes citizens' participation, choice, and procedural justice. While their focuses differ, the three are distinct yet interconnected. The distinctions make it necessary for them to complement and combine, while the connections make it possible for them to integrate into a hybrid system. The ideal political system in the world today should be an integration of republicanism, democracy, and constitutionalism. In a certain sense, constitutionalism is a political technique, a method of organizing the government. It achieves social justice and safeguards basic human rights principles through specific institutional arrangements. This political technique can only be optimal under the following three political vectors: First, it requires the government to be subject to the constitution, with the government only exercising the power it has been consented to by the people and only for the purposes consented to by the people; second, the distribution of power should adhere to the principle of avoiding centralization and autocracy, requiring an independent judiciary to ensure the government does not deviate from constitutional provisions; third, the constitution should be operational, with the ideals it expresses and the principles and procedures it stipulates capable of guiding and regulating citizens' values. The world is diverse, and constitutions are varied, with preliminary statistics indicating nearly 170 types, more than half of which were formulated after 1974. Different constitutional regulations give rise to different constitutionalisms, and constitutional models exhibit diversity. As constitutionalism has replaced autocratic regimes and become the form of governance and value goal of modern states, comparative constitutionalism research—exploring its structure, dynamics, practice, and experience—is an indispensable means to advance the constitutionalization process and a rational choice to further eliminate the remnants of authoritarianism and strengthen the construction of political civilization. Based on this understanding, constitutionalism should be a subject of political science research. However, in previous political science research, republicanism and democracy have been particularly favored by scholars, while constitutionalism has only been relied upon by a small number of scholars with legal training. As a result, the renowned political scientist G. Sartori remarked, "Constitutionalism is not a traditional topic in political science." He even believed that "new" political science had no conditions to discuss this issue, "because political science is keen on informal processes and not concerned with formal structures. The new generation of political scientists, in particular, do not believe in the existence of highly abstract concepts like the state, focusing instead on grassroots units like groups, and developing a strong attachment to dynamic processes, change, and what is 'being done.'" Sartori's statement may be somewhat harsh or biased, but the phenomenon he complains about, if viewed through the lens of Chinese political science, is spot on. For a long time in China, the topic of constitutionalism has only been of interest to constitutional scholars, with few scholars from the political science field intervening. This cannot be said to be a major shortcoming of Chinese political science. To address this, since the last year of the 20th century, we have offered a professional foundational course titled "Constitutional Theory" in our doctoral program, truly making constitutionalism a subject of political science research. This book gradually took shape based on the teaching syllabus, with Dr. Lin Guanghua making particularly significant contributions. The title "General Introduction to Constitutionalism" was chosen because the various issues discussed in this book are the most fundamental topics in the field of constitutionalism. In terms of content, it aims to summarize the experience and achievements of human political civilization, striving to cover both the past and the present, and to integrate both Chinese and foreign perspectives. In terms of research methods, it abandons the traditional approach of "interpreting the classics through the self and interpreting the self through the classics," adhering to a pragmatic approach. It provides a theoretical review and analysis of the constitutionalism category, origin, basic principles, structure, practice, experience, and models, attempting to construct a framework system for constitutional science to advance discipline development. Of course, this is merely our unilateral wish, and its degree of realization depends on the of the majority of readers and expert peers. "Critique is to correct flaws, and seeking friends is to attack shortcomings." We sincerely hope to receive constructive criticism to work together to deepen constitutionalism research and ultimately achieve the goal of "making matters credible and words meaningful, so that they can be expressed to future generations."