直接民主与间接民主--《代议制政府》的重新解读

直接民主与间接民主的问题,是当代政治哲学的一个热点。本文通过对密《代议制政府》的重新解读,澄清了直接民主和间接民主的关系。密尔系统地阐述了代议制民主的问题,他的间接民主理论中包含着直接民主的因素。一方面密尔把人民亲自参政的直接民主视为代议制民主的基础和前提,阐明了人民参政的直接民主的正当性、合理性;另一方面他又深刻地分析了人民参政的直接民主可能带来的弊病和危险。实际上,直接民主是一把双刃剑,它既可以成为克服暴政的武器,又可能导致多数的暴政;既可以成为自由的保障,也可能成为自由的敌人。因此,需要根据实际情况,扬利避害,在政治制度的设计中,正确地适度地运用直接民主的形式,保证人民的政治参与。     

共同体与民主

本文讨论了共同体与民主之间的复杂关系.作者认为,现代的民主国家要求人民形成关系密切的政治共同体,分享强烈的集体认同.但这种集体认同容易使人排斥那些不能或无法轻易融入这种认同的人.可是,排斥不仅在道德上值得谴责,也违背了人民主权的合法性观念.为了走出这一困境,人们往往对"政治认同"进行重新定义,民族主义、共和主义和自由主义给出了不同的解决方案.作者分析了上述方案的不足,并提出,没有哪种方案可以替代营造"共享认同的空间"方案.这意味着,那些想要或必须生活在同一政体下的不同个人和群体,必须针对一个能共同接受的甚至是妥协性的政治认同进行协商、达成共识.     

Liberalism and Democracy

ABSTRACT Political liberalism and the democratic ideal together supply the foundation of almost all contemporary political thinking. This essay explores the relation between them. It argues that, despite common parlance, there is an inevitable tension between the two. Furthermore, attempts to resolve this tension by showing that democracy is a good thing in its own right, or that it is the inevitable development of liberal aspirations, or that it is conceptually connected to fundamental liberal ideas, all fail. The conclusion to be drawn is that liberalism requires a pragmatic rather than a principled approach to democratic aspirations.     

社区组织行政化:表现、原因及对策分析

社区居委会是社区居民自我管理、自我教育、自我服务、自我监督的基层群众性自治组织,但是在我国社区建设与社区发展过程中出现了社区组织行政化的倾向。本文探讨了社区自治组织行政化的表现,分析了导致社区自治组织行政化的原因,提出了社区自治组织去行政化的对策。     

Liberalism and Democracy Revisited

In JAP 9 (1992) Gordon Graham argued that liberals cannot be counted on to support democratic institutions since there are no conceptual or strongly contingent links between democracy and liberal ideals. This paper responds to Graham's challenge by claiming that his model of liberal aristocracy is not liberal in several respects. In particular, the liberal should recognise a right to democratic participation which individuals may plausibly claim as an element in a respectable conception of how to live well. The right to democratic participation is shown to stand alongside other important liberal ideals which may be justified in this fashion, e.g. freedom of religious worship and freedom of association. Furthermore, I argue against those who claim that political participation enacts delusory aspirations that the rights which are promoted and protected within a democratic constitution are necessary for both individual and collective autonomy — and so the liberal should defend them.     

Democracy and ecological soundness

Though the goals of democracy and ecological soundness are largely believed to be necessarily linked, there is sometimes a lack of adequate argument demonstrating this connection. Defining ecological soundness and democracy and showing weaknesses in some typical attempts to link them, I argue that democracy is in fact necessary for ecological improvement. The undemocratic practices of capitalism, ecological discrimination, and global inequality all play key roles in environmental degradation. Drawing on David Schweickart's (1996) recent argument for “Economic Democracy,” I defend such a model of democratic socialism as the most ecologically sound political and economic form currently possible.     

在宪政与民主之间——从2000年大选透析美国宪政的二元个性

2000年大选暴露了美国宪政制度的危机.究其实质,这一危机是宪政与民主的冲突加剧的外在表现.由这一次大选提供的个案入手,本文分析了美国宪政的传统与改革的进程,并对最高法院与民主的关系做了一个审视.本文认为,宪政与民主的冲突与均衡在政治制度和政治意识等多个方面构造了美国政治文明的二元个性.     

Global Democracy and the Resort to Despotism: Global Democracy Revisited

Abstract

There exist existential global problems we cannot solve unless we resort to a world government. It is desirable that such a government can be held responsible by a democratically elected world parliament. Hence, global democracy is desirable. However, the road to global democracy is blocked by similar problems that render it necessary in the first place: collective decision problems of a different but related sort. And time is short. In particular we face an emergent need to tend to problems to do with global warming. This means that we have to investigate the possibility and desirability of a last resort to global despotism.