选举民主的有效性与有限性

发布时间：2018-08-11 16:52

【摘要】： 选举民主是民主形式中的一朵奇葩,它不仅具有广泛的适应性而且具有极大的包容性。人类民主理想在现代世界的迅速拓展应归功于选举民主。与古希腊绚丽而有限的直接民主相比,选举民主以其特有的方式保证了民主在更大规模社会的实现。人类社会很早就采用了选举的方式来选择统治者,但是只有在选举资格逐渐普及到每个成年公民之后,由选举产生的代表才真正成为全体人民利益的代言人,这时的选举民主也才真正成为全体人民的民主。然而,随着人类社会的民主实践,选举民主的价值在得到充分彰显的同时也逐渐暴露出自身的弱点。最初建立选举民主的国家以及学者纷纷用“选举主义的谬误”、“选举的暴政”、“选举的独裁”、“投票的动物”等话语描述选举民主的种种弊端。对于一些刚刚或正在大力推进选举民主的国家,这种复杂的局面令人无所适从。当前由于对选举民主的有效性和有限性没有正确的认知,对选举民主常常提出不切实际的希望,从而也给热衷于民主的人们带来无尽的失望。因此对于选举民主的有效性和有限性的研究不是一个简单的肯定与否定的问题,而是需要挖掘其有效性和有限性的深层内涵与具体表现,并且只有在正确认识选举民主有效性的基础上才可能恰当地评判选举民主的有限性。因此,本文试从有效性与有限性两个方面展开对选举民主的研究。对于选举民主有效性与有限性的研究首先需要明确一系列概念以及相关的基础理论,因此本文首先介绍民主以及选举民主的概念与特征。本文认为,选举民主是指在民族国家中通过自由、公正、定期、竞争的选举产生国家公职人员的一种民主形式。公民具有基本的政治权利和自由是选举民主的前提条件；自由、公正、定期、竞争性的选举是选举民主的基本特征；“多数裁定”是选举民主运作的基本原则；票决制是选举民主运作的基本方式。因此,一方面选举民主属于票决民主和代议制民主的一种形式,另一方面选举民主并不是某些学者所认为的“最低限度的民主”。虽然选举民主在不同的语境下具有不同的涵义,在不同的时代也具有不同的品质与特征,然而从古希腊奴隶主的选举民主发展到中世纪贵族的选举民主,再到现代社会广大人民的选举民主,选举民主的品质在不断的提升。正因如此,在现代社会选举民主已经成为进步人类不可或缺的民主形式之一。任何一种民主形式都需要理论和实践的支撑,选举民主也不例外。因此对选举民主的研究需要了解其理论基础以及所需的实践条件。选举民主的理论基础来源于多个方面,包括社会契约论、主权在民理论、理性选择理论和代议制理论等,在这些不同的理论之间,还存在着交错递进的关系。这些理论既是选举民主得以产生的内在动因,也为其有效性的发挥奠定了理论基础。然而,理论基础只是一个方面,选举民主的产生、发展与巩固还需要一系列与之相适应的实践条件,包括经济、政治、文化以及相关条件等等。具体来说,选举民主的建立以及发展需要商品经济的适度发展；公民拥有法定的选举权和政治自由；参与型文化的出现等等；另外有效的国家政权、政治精英的推动、合适的国际环境等也是选举民主的可能条件。选举民主产生的理论基础以及实践条件是选举民主发挥有效性的重要基础与逻辑前提。对于选举民主的研究需要我们对选举民主的基本要素以及富有特色的运作过程有充分的了解,因为正是它们内在地规定了选举民主的有效性与有限性。选举民主的基本要素主要包括四个方面：选民是选举民主的主体；候选人是选举民主的客体；票决是选举民主的实现途径；竞争是选举民主的运作方式。选举民主的运作过程包括：设立选举管理机构；确定选举的具体方式；安排选举的基本流程；获胜者依法担任公职四个方面。选举民主的基本要素以及复杂的运作过程确保了选举民主有效性的发挥,同时这些要素与运行机制也导致了选举民主的有限性。选举民主的有效性与有限性是选举民主不可分割的两个方面。选举民主的有效性是指选举民主在满足人或社会的相应需要、实现相应目的方面所表现出的积极特性。选举民主的有效性,就其本质而言,是体现于特定价值关系中的价值属性问题。它是在选举民主活动及其结果与选举民主主体构成的价值关系中所表现出来的。因此选举民主的有效性可以归纳为三个方面：选举民主主体的有效性,包括充分彰显人的理性、保障公民的基本权利；选举民主程序的有效性,包括参与性、人道性、合法性、合理性、及时性、终结性等；选举民主结果的有效性,包括终结专制与暴政、实现政治斗争的有序化和政治稳定、有利于产生符合民意的政权、有利于培育公民的民主德行等。选举民主的有效性需要一系列指标体系加以衡量,因此,本文提出了“选举权利”和“保障公民选举权的政治自由”两个大类共九项指标作为衡量选举民主的客观标准。选举民主的有限性是指选举民主在正常运转的情况下所导致的最终结果的非正义问题。对选举民主的有限性可以从两个方面分析：一是选举民主主体的有限性,二是选举民主运行机制的有限性。主体的有限性是指选举民主中的主体——选民——能力是有限的,不可能巨细无遗地考虑选举中的所有相关因素,也未必能够在思考之后就做出最佳的选择,这是选举民主在实践中的重大局限性。选举民主运行机制的有限性是指选举民主为保障其顺利运行所遵循的原则、程序和方法所导致的局限性,包括多数裁定的不完善性、程序性原则的弱点、委托-代理的困境三个主要方面。具体来看,多数裁定的结果不能保证代表公共利益,还有可能产生选举结果的不一致、损害选民的个人权利、扭曲选民意志。选举民主中的程序性原则在实践中常常难以保障失败者的利益和缺席者的权利,无助于包容与缩小分歧,甚至可能导致民主价值的空洞化。而选举民主中的委托-代理关系可能会导致选举产生的代表按自己的利益行事而忽略选民的利益,从而使选举民主名不副实。在全面认识选举民主有效性与有限性之后,还需探讨如何完善选举民主。首先需要合理调适主客体关系、拓展选举民主的自身优势；其次要逐步扩大直接民主的范围,克服与弥补选举民主的局限；最后要把选举民主与协商民主结合起来,提升选举民主的品质。总之,对于选举民主的研究,需要从正反两个方面作辩证的分析,选择了选举民主并不等于自动落实了民主理想,把民主理想融入制度也不意味着民主完全实现。现实中的民主永远无法达到完满,但是追求理想的民主的脚步也永远不会停止。
[Abstract]:Electoral democracy is a wonderful flower in the form of democracy. It has not only wide adaptability but also great inclusiveness. The rapid expansion of human democratic ideals in the modern world owes to electoral democracy. Compared with the brilliant and limited direct democracy in ancient Greece, electoral democracy ensures democracy in a larger community in its unique way. Human society adopted the method of electing rulers very early, but only after the electoral qualifications gradually spread to every adult citizen, the elected representatives became the spokesman of the interests of all the people, and then the electoral democracy became the democracy of all the people. The democratic practice of the association and the value of the electoral democracy have been fully manifested, but their own weaknesses have gradually been exposed. In countries where electoral democracy has just been or is being vigorously promoted, this complex situation is confusing. Without a correct understanding of the validity and limitations of electoral democracy, there is often unrealistic hope for electoral democracy, which also brings endless disappointment to people who are keen on democracy. The study of the validity and finiteness of the Lord is not a simple question of affirmation and negation, but a deep connotation and concrete manifestation of its validity and finiteness. The study of electoral democracy is carried out in two aspects.
To study the validity and limitation of electoral democracy, we must first clarify a series of concepts and related basic theories. Therefore, this paper first introduces the concepts and characteristics of democracy and electoral democracy. The basic political rights and freedoms of citizens are the preconditions of electoral democracy; free, fair, regular and competitive elections are the basic characteristics of electoral democracy; the "majority ruling" is the basic principle of the operation of electoral democracy; the voting system is the basic way of the operation of electoral democracy. On the other hand, electoral democracy is not the "minimum democracy" as some scholars think. Although electoral democracy has different meanings in different contexts and has different qualities and characteristics in different times, it has developed from the electoral democracy of slave owners in ancient Greece to the electoral democracy of slave owners in ancient Greece. The election democracy of the aristocrats in the Middle Ages, and then to the election democracy of the broad masses of the people in modern society, the quality of the election democracy is constantly improving.
Any form of democracy needs the support of theory and practice, and electoral democracy is no exception. Therefore, the study of electoral democracy needs to understand its theoretical basis and practical conditions. However, the theoretical basis is only one aspect. The emergence, development and consolidation of electoral democracy need a series of corresponding practical conditions. Specifically speaking, the establishment and development of electoral democracy need the moderate development of commodity economy; citizens have the legal right to vote and political freedom; the emergence of participatory culture and so on; in addition, effective state power, the promotion of political elites, the appropriate international environment and so on are also elections. The theoretical basis and practical conditions of electoral democracy are the important basis and logical premise for the effectiveness of electoral democracy.
The study of electoral democracy requires us to have a full understanding of the basic elements of electoral democracy and its characteristic operation process, because they inherently stipulate the validity and limitation of electoral democracy. The operation process of electoral democracy includes: setting up electoral administration organs; determining the specific ways of elections; arranging the basic process of elections; and holding public office by the winner according to law. The operational process ensures the effectiveness of electoral democracy, and these elements and operational mechanisms also lead to the limitations of electoral democracy.
The validity and limitation of electoral democracy are two indispensable aspects of electoral democracy. Therefore, the validity of electoral democracy can be summed up in three aspects: the validity of electoral democratic subjects, including fully demonstrating human rationality and guaranteeing citizens'basic rights; the validity of electoral democratic procedures, including It includes participation, humanity, legitimacy, rationality, timeliness, finality, etc. The effectiveness of Election Democratic results, including the end of autocracy and tyranny, the realization of orderly political struggle and political stability, is conducive to the formation of a political power in line with public opinion, is conducive to the cultivation of citizens'democratic ethics and so on. Therefore, this paper puts forward two categories of nine indicators, namely "the right to vote" and "the political freedom to protect the citizens'right to vote", as the objective criteria to measure electoral democracy.
The finiteness of electoral democracy refers to the injustice of the final result caused by the normal operation of electoral democracy. The finiteness of electoral democracy can be analyzed from two aspects: the finiteness of the main body of electoral democracy and the finiteness of the operating mechanism of electoral democracy. The limitation of electoral democracy in practice is that it is impossible to take into account all the relevant factors in the election in great detail and to make the best choice after thinking, which is a major limitation of electoral democracy in practice. The limitations of procedures and methods include the imperfection of majority rulings, the weakness of procedural principles, and the dilemma of principal-agent. Specifically, the results of majority rulings can not guarantee the representation of public interests, and may lead to inconsistencies in election results, damage the individual rights of voters and distort the will of voters. In practice, the procedural principle in democracy is often difficult to protect the interests of the losers and the rights of the absentees, does not help to contain and narrow differences, and may even lead to the hollowing of democratic values. The name of election democracy is not true.
After comprehensively recognizing the validity and limitation of electoral democracy, it is necessary to explore how to improve it. Firstly, it is necessary to rationally adjust the relationship between the subject and the object and expand the advantages of electoral democracy; secondly, it is necessary to gradually expand the scope of direct democracy to overcome and remedy the limitations of electoral democracy; finally, it is necessary to combine electoral democracy with deliberative democracy. In short, the study of electoral democracy needs a dialectical analysis from both positive and negative aspects. The choice of electoral democracy does not mean the automatic implementation of democratic ideals, and the integration of democratic ideals into the system does not mean the complete realization of democracy. The pace of democracy will never stop.
【学位授予单位】：武汉大学
【学位级别】：博士
【学位授予年份】：2010
【分类号】：D621.4

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