美國總統制之選擇與運作

The Choice and Design of U.S. Constitution

美國是第一個把共和體制的國家元首取名為president的國家，所以變成是總統制的起源。美國憲法對美國總統的權力並沒有很明確的描述，制憲代表們是希望在國家面臨危機時，國家的主要權力可以歸向總統，但在危機解除後總統的權力應該恢復正常。美國制憲的願景是希望能補救邦聯體制下，中央政府無權無能的困境，透過共和聯邦體制，強化中央政府權能，也確保人民的自由權利。憲政制度的選擇，主要考量是在推翻英國王權統治，美國不想再進入王權體制，必須建立一個嶄新的山巔之城。美國的總統制運作，必須依賴制度、權力行使者、外在環境等因素的互動而成。即使有權力制衡的制度設計，最重要的還是需要權力者審慎使用所有特殊權力，如果不克制使用，除了造成當下的政治困境之外，也可能對制度帶來長遠的傷害。成功的美國總統領導需要融合運氣、政治手腕、以及審慎地資源權力分配。除了制度賦予的否決權權力外，制度外的權力更加重要，例如營造聲望及支持度，或是以行政權力主導立法和司法部門的作為。

The U.S. Constitution is recognized as the first written constitution in republic form of human history, in which President was the first used to the title of “head of state.” The major motivation of U.S. Constitution designers was to avoid the British Monarchy system which had created all problems to the 13 colonies. And under Articles of Confederation period, the central government was not effective governing because of very weak power entitlements. Therefore in the Constitutional Convention there were many arguments on different power designs and eventually reached the great compromise to finalize it. Through the great compromise, the U.S. government was produced and started an experiment that lasted more than 3 centuries. The success of function of U.S. Presidential system relied on institutional design, people's skills, and interactions between U.S. domestic and global developments.