以人民主權超克政治之惡：探析邊沁的民主憲政思想

Overcoming Political Evil with People’s Sovereignty: An Exploration of Bentham’s Thought on Democratic Constitutionalism

本文的目的在探討與分析邊沁的民主憲政理論，並觀察他如何以人民主權克服政治的腐化。邊沁視陪審團制度為正義的學校，因為它可以培養公民參與政治事務的習慣與技能，並可建立公共性以規約掌權者。為了超克政治之惡，邊沁提出「品賦的極大化與支出的極小化」原則，意味著一方面減少掌權者可動用的政府支出，同時培養掌權者與公民的品賦，如此有助於擴大公共輿論法庭的權威，使政府承擔道德責任。據此，在政治場域中，最大多數人的最大幸福意味著達成統治者與人民的利益之合致。市民社會的強健與政府的弱勢是邊沁的民主憲政理論之基本架構，以市民社會的道德力量對抗政府的法制力量則是其核心。

The purpose of the article is to explore and analyze Bentham’s democratic constitutionalism, and to observe the way in which political corruption is overcome by people’s sovereignty. Bentham regards the jury system as“a school of justice,”for it helps to cultivate citizens’habit and skill of political participation, so that publicity is established and the rulers are regulated. In order to overcome political evil, Bentham proposes the principle of“aptitude maximized, expence minimized,”which suggests that the expenses of the rulers should be minimized, and they should cultivate their own aptitude as well as that of the citizens. This is beneficial for expanding the authority of the public opinion tribunal, and imposing moral responsibility on the government. On this account, to achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number in the political sphere means the identification of rulers’interests with those of the people. The basic structure of Bentham’s democratic constitutionalism lies in the strength of civil society and the weakness of government, and its core is to counterbalance the legal power of the government with the moral power of the civil society.