從托克維爾夢魘論美國行政分權走向行政集權的脈絡

On the Context from Decentralization of Administration to Centralization of Administration in America from the Standpoint of Tocqueville’s Nightmare

《美國的民主》一書是認識美國早期民主政治樣貌的重要著作，作者托克維爾提出美國「政府集權－行政分權」的觀點，認為主權國家必然是政府集權，全國性事務由單一政府進行統整與號令，但是行政事務屬於日常事務，必須因地制宜，由地方政府、自治團體及人民來執行，實踐人民主權價值，培育公民道德與責任感，避免政府的干涉與影響。托克維爾在矛盾與背反思維及焦慮不安感的驅使下，提出美國民主的潛在問題，若是行政由政府派任官員來執行，會走向行政集權，並奪走人民的自主性與資源，當政府與行政一起集權，便可能成為獨斷專政的政府，威脅美國的民主政治，即為「托克維爾夢魘」的緣起。托克維爾預示下的美國行政發展，衍生出行政集權與走向獨斷專權、地方集權與州際緊張關係、弱勢聯邦與權力平衡問題等情形，日後更發生聯邦－州爭議與南北戰爭、分贓政治、功績制與行政國等問題，逐步建構「托克維爾夢魘」。本文探討《美國的民主》一書中政府集權－行政分權的意義、成因與運行方式，說明托克維爾對行政集權的闡釋與潛在行政集權等問題，指出重要歷史事件與發展脈絡，認識美國行政的「托克維爾夢魘」之路。

Democracy in America is a significant work to comprehend early democratic politics in the United States. Alexis de Tocqueville proposed the perspective of a“centralized government and decentralized administration,”noting that it is essential for a sovereign state to have a centralized government, one that can direct and cope with domestic affairs universally, and that administrative affairs are routine, and shall adopt measures according to local conditions. Such measures are to be executed by local governments, selfgoverning bodies and citizens in order to practice the value of popular sovereignty and to foster the ethics and the duties of those citizens, and to avoid excessive government intervention and influence. De Tocqueville pointed out the potential problems of American democracy by means of contradictory thoughts and antinomies. If the government were to designate officials for administration, it would take away the autonomy and resourcefulness of the people, leading to a centralized government and administration, and resulting in a despotic government that would threaten American democracy. This manner of thinking is the origin and background of Tocqueville’s Nightmare. De Tocqueville predicted the way a decentralized administration turns into a centralized administration, leading to many problems, such as centralized administration and despotism, local centralization and tensions between states, a weak federal government and the balance of powers and so on. Tocqueville’s Nightmare comes into being step by step, such as the conflict between federal and state governments and civil war, spoils system, merit system and administrative state and so on. This study discusses the meaning, causes, and the operations of the type of centralized government and decentralized administration mentioned in Democracy in America in order to explain de Tocqueville’s vision of a centralized administration and its potential concerns, and to indicate important historical events and their context so as to understand the road to Tocqueville’s Nightmare of the United States.