On Public Finance and Constitutional States: As a Fiscal Constitutionalism......

Author: Zhou Gangzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Fiscal constitution, as a fundamental component of the constitutional system of various countries, has always been valued by both Chinese and foreign constitutional scholars. However, why is national finance so important to constitutional systems? In the new historical period, how should China address various fiscal issues and strengthen constitutional construction? The study of constitutional law in China on this topic is very insufficient, while the discussion in the field of fiscal science is often inclined toward economic efficiency analysis and lacks institutional thinking in constitutional law. This book attempts to analyze the intrinsic correlation among the three entities—market economy, public finance, and constitutional states—based on the fundamental proposition that "the state is materially dependent on finance." It seeks to reveal the economic roots of constitutional states from the perspective of public finance, dissect the constituent elements of constitutional states, and conduct a detailed analysis of the necessity, feasibility, and specific strategies for China to build a constitutional state. The book will argue that ensuring human rights is the only value of constitutionalism, or, in other words, human rights are both the logical starting point and the ultimate goal of constitutionalism. The book employs social science methods to analyze the necessity and feasibility of improving the constitutional system, uses relevant economic statistical data to explain the structure of government expenditure and the positioning of government functions in China, and explores the fiscal dilemmas faced by the Chinese government and their solutions. Etc.
Based on the fundamental proposition of the state's material dependence on finance, this book conducts a comparative analysis of various constitutional struggles surrounding public finance issues in the UK, the US, France, Germany, and China under different historical contexts. It reveals the correlation between the market economy, public finance, and constitutional systems, as well as related constitutional principles, in historical facts. It analyzes the common elements of various constitutional system models, namely, human rights protection as the dimension of constitutional value, representative institutions as the dimension of constitutional systems, and the principle of power limitation as the dimension of constitutional practice. Of course, within the limits of time, the author will also attempt to conduct a comparative study of fiscal constitutional norms in various countries.