Britain and the United States are the western base camps, and it is also a model of Western constitutional government. The United Kingdom has not been grasped and the United States has implemented grammar. However, both are known as the Lighting Pagoda of the rule of law and have always been admired by the world.The democratic world mentioned in the West is a spread from Britain and the United States.For developing countries, British and American democracy is even more unattainable, but it is not available.
In recent years, the controversy of China's constitutional government has revealed people's envy of people (at least the intellectual industry) for British and American constitutional government.The US flag also fluttered among the protests in Hong Kong, showing people's obsession with American democracy.But now the British and American countries take the lead in the constitutional crisis, which is difficult to accept and incredible for many people.
The constitutional crisis in Britain is arising and expanding around Brexit.Article 50 of the European EU Lisbon Treaty has no clear explanation of member states from the EU procedures, which leaves the huge space of British politicians, and how to go out of Brexit to play its own subjective talents.The use of referendum to solve the relationship between Britain and the European Union was originally the result of irresponsible politicians.The political game around Brexit has made people look eye -catching on British politicians.Obviously, the ruling class does not have any consensus. Politicians should not pursue personal interests, or do not pursue the interests of groups (political parties), and set the overall society and national interests.
The constitutional crisis in the United States first focused on the problem of collusion between President Trump and Russia.From a technical perspective, is Trump and Russia's communication legal?This does not have a clear legal explanation.Trump and Ukraine President's Tongwumen are also similar.In the case of not accepting legal interpretations that everyone can accept, political methods are highlighted, that is, all parties want to solve problems through politics.Like Britain, when the law is lost and the political methods are used, the constitutional crisis is unexpected.
After all, the foundation of constitutional government lies in the law.First of all, the law is required, and then everyone must obey the law.However, in real life, law cannot exhaust the possibilities.Although the law is the highest manifestation of the system, all systems, including law, are formulated by people. Legislators cannot foresee all possibilities in the future during legislation. There will always be vulnerabilities and deficiencies.
Furthermore, although people know the evil of human nature, the legislators often have good desires in the process of legislation.That is to say, no matter what kind of law, there will be room for behavior.People who are smarter than the system, smart politicians can always find opportunities and space if they want to escape the law.
Different levels of law
The meaning of law is profound, and people can discuss at least three levels.First, rule the country according to law, that is, Rule by Law.Law is a social rule and norms. It does not become a society without rules and norms. Any society is composed of a series of formal and informal rules and specifications.In this sense, the law is the highest institutional manifestation.Rule by Law means that the ruler rules the country according to the law.This is the most basic level.
Second, the rule of law, the Rule of Law.The ruler not only ruled the country in accordance with the law, but also obeyed the law, even if it was the law that it was formulated.That is to say, everyone is equal before the law.
Third, the spirit of law.Its performance is people's belief in the Fa.People's belief in Fa is like people's belief in God.This is what Mendesquiex said, or the soul of the law.No matter what kind of term use, it means the law is ubiquitous.This is the highest level, and the law is in the heart.As long as the Fa is in my heart, whether it is Rule by Law or Rule of Law, it will have the same effect; but once the law is lost, no matter what kind of system constraints, political power (there is no way for individuals or organizations) can escape the law.of.
The constitutional crisis of the West today can also be discussed from the perspective of law and meaning, and the law can be discussed from the performance of democratic politics.Before the emergence of mass democracy, all forms of democracy were elite democracy, that is, the democracy of a few people.The democracy of a few people is a typical republic, that is, the institutional arrangement of power sharing between a few elite people.The West has always had politics assumptions, but in fact, from ancient Greece, politicians are also a few people, and not everyone can enjoy political qualifications.
In reality, there are always a few rulers in any society that are divided into ruler and ruler.The ancient Greek city -state democracy can be said to be a small society democracy, because the population scale is small.But even the democracy enjoyed by a few citizens is supported by the huge slave team.The agency system implemented by modern democracy is the institutional arrangement ruled by a few people.Elite democracy is the democracy under the consensus of the elite.
In terms of Fa, here can extend the class nature of Marx's law.According to Marx's point of view, the law is always formulated by the ruling class, and it also serves the ruling class. It is just that the ruling class that has the right to speak can claim that the law is universal and universal.No matter how the discourse changes, the nature of the law will not change.The western private property system is typical, which is the law that protects the interests of producers.This phenomenon also shows that the law must have a class foundation, otherwise there is no power to maintain the existence and operation of the law.
However, the class foundation of the law will change.In modern European democracy, it has prevalent autocracy before, and the authoritarian (or degree) of power depends on the degree of power sharing between the king and other nobles.Many cities and businessmen who grew up on the ruins of the Roman Empire and their businessmen as the owner of the city constituted the driving force for early Western democratization. Because businessmen with economic power must start to share political power with the king (with nobles) to protect the businessman classInterests.
At this time, democracy is still the democracy of a few people, but the social foundation has expanded.This can be seen from the composition of parliament and Congress.Marx said that the democracy of his time was the democracy of the bourgeoisie. This was an experience, because most members of the parliament and parliament at that time came from the business class.Democracy at this stage can also be called business owners, that is, businessmen is the main driving force for democracy.
From World War I and World War II to the 1970s, the West has experienced industrialization and urbanization, and the scale of the middle class has expanded rapidly.This is an era of being called the Ford factory by the academic community.This era is the golden age of western democratic expansion. With the growth of economic growth and per capita income, the working class has rapidly improved into the middle class.Democracy in this era can also be called democracy in the industrial era or middle -class democracy, because the middle class is the main driving force of democracy.
After the 1970s, with the setting up of the Western Civil Rights Movement, all strata (women and ethnic groups, etc.) in the society entered the political process and became politicians.Popular democracy based on one person and one vote.
With the change of democratic social foundation, the power foundation of politicians has also changed a lot, and from identity (traditional noble) and money (businessman) to the public's votes.In this way, the elite consensus was quickly weakened or even disappeared.Here you can compare the difference between the Emperor's election and the presidential election. The former is an elite election elite, the mutual election between them, and the elite democracy; the latter is an election involved in everyone and the public's democracy.
In the era of mass democracy, although elites still refer to those who have political power and economic wealth, their nature has changed tremendous.It is no longer a spirit to measure the elite, but the number that can be calculated. Politicians to obtain votes to define whether it is an elite, while the economic field is measured by how much money is made.In the West, the two can be exchanged, that is, wealth can be directly converted into political power through the voting mechanism.
In this way, the foundation of law and meaning is gone as for people's attitudes towards the law, or as far as constitutional government is concerned.The constitutional government originally regulated the interest relationship between elites, but once the elite class fell, they lost mutual trust and politics expanded.Borrowing scholar BENEDIT AndersonThe concept of s), in the era of elite democracy, the ruling class is a community of ruling.Most of the ruler graduated from the elite school. The same education and almost experience, they have a considerable degree of trust between them. Although one left, one right, as longEssence
In other words, consensus is a class foundation; similarly, the decline of consensus is also the inevitable result of the changes in the social foundation of the ruling class.In the era of Ford Factory, technology, employment, and taxation grew together, leading to the expansion of the middle class in the West.After World War II, the middle class of Western countries was around 70%.The middle class of this scale is the social foundation of public democracy.
Different political parties (regardless of the left and right), if they want to go to power, they will not deviate from the middle, that is, both parties must consider the interests of the middle class with the majority of population.In other words, although the consensus between elites was not as good as before, because of the constraints of the middle class, the elites had to have consensus, that is, to take care of the interests of the middle class and the policy preference for the Chinese production.Of course, the middle class has also produced some of the political parties that care about some special issues, such as the Green Party that pays attention to the environment, but these are not mainstream.
Western contemporary civilian origin
But the current situation is very different, and the West has entered the era of knowledge economy.The advancement and globalization of technology (especially communication technology such as Internet and social media) has created a huge amount of wealth for the West.But unfortunately, the Western economy is no longer the shared economy as the Fortune Factory era, and has evolved into a exclusive economy that has the most interests of the most interests.Smaller in the middle class, increasing income differences, and social differentiation are common phenomena.
As the Italian New Marxist Antonio Gramsci said, if the ruling class must be effectively ruled, it must surpass the interests of the class and take care of the interests of other class classes.What is the current situation?A consensus -based ruling class no longer exists.The middle class becomes smaller, the class becomes sporadic, and society has lost the subjective class.All kinds of politicians no longer continue to play hypocritical, jump out and escape their elite circle, and combine with various sporadic crushed social groups.
This is also the origin of Western contemporary civilian.After a while, it was extremely left, and it was extremely right. It only occurred in developing countries that were extremely differentiated with the rich and the poor, especially Latin American society.However, in the era of knowledge economy, the middle class has lost its economic foundation, and its scale not only cannot be maintained, but reduced, so the extremely left and right right phenomena have spread to the entire West.
In terms of experience, people must not forget the risk of rising left and extremely right.The Chinese say that the law does not blame the public, which means that when a certain behavior has a certain group or universality, even if the behavior contains some illegal or unreasonable factors, the law is difficult to punish it.In other words, the rise of extremely left or right forces can cause a huge damage effect on constitutional government.
In Western history, those who are not very large or the right party (or other extremely radical political parties) can become a social foundation of populism.Once there is a crisis in society, the mainstream society is powerless, as if it disappears, and more people will find their savior from these extremism.The German, Mussolini era in the Hitler era, Italy and Japan before World War II experienced such a history.Undoubtedly, this is also the source of the current crisis of Western constitution.
Therefore, from a class foundation, it is not difficult for people to understand the constitutional crisis currently experienced by Western society.In a word, constitutional government has a class foundation. Once the class foundation of the original constitutional government is no longer supported, the crisis will become inevitable.Of course, this is not to say what is wrong or bad in Western constitutional government.Western constitutional government is also the product of the times, and it is a reflection of the class power distribution of that era.
Furthermore, in the cultural background of the West, as Churchill said, democracy is the least bad government.In other words, democracy is the best government.This is of course the main point of the so -called end of Fushan's so -called history.However, the constitutional crisis experienced by the West today also shows that there is no best in the world, but only better politics; even in a historical period, it is considered to be the best system.It is the last word to keep pace with the times.
In other words, only the system that keeps pace with the times is a good system.It is foreseeable that in the next era of Western politics, Western constitutional government must adapt to new economic forms through reform and even revolution.In this regard, people wait and see.
(The author is a professor at the National University of Singapore and East Asia)
The article only represents personal point of view
