Basic principles of the Constitution I. The principle of people's sovereignty
Sovereignty refers to the supreme power of a country. People's sovereignty means that the vast majority of countries have the highest state power. Rousseau, the French enlightenment thought, believes that sovereignty is the concrete expression of the general will, and the general will of the people is the supreme power; The people are the source of the supreme power of the country, and the country is the product of the free people according to the contract, and all the powers of the government are granted by the people. Therefore, the master of the country is not the monarch, but the people, and the ruler is only entrusted by the people, so sovereignty can only belong to the people.
The emergence of people's sovereignty theory is a great leap in the history of Chinese studies, a sharp ideological weapon for the bourgeoisie to oppose feudal absolutism, and the core of bourgeois democratic thought. So, from the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 to the French Declaration of Human Rights of 1789? The origin of the whole sovereignty mainly depends on the people? Since then, western countries have generally recognized people's sovereignty in form and regarded it as a primary principle of bourgeois democracy, and clearly stipulated in the constitution that sovereignty belongs to the people. As stipulated in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic of France? National sovereignty belongs to the people? ; Japan 1946 Constitution stipulates? It is hereby declared that sovereignty belongs to the people? ; What is the current Italian Constitution? Sovereignty belongs to the people and is realized by the people within the form and scope stipulated by the constitution? , and so on.
However, these formal regulations do not mean that in capitalist countries, the broad masses of the people already enjoy the right to be masters of their own affairs. In a society where the capitalist of the means of production is personally owned, it can only be the owner's right, and people's sovereignty is out of the question. Only by abolishing private ownership of the means of production and establishing socialist public ownership of the means of production can people's sovereignty be realized.
Although in the constitutional norms of socialist countries, scientists do not see that the sovereignty clearly stipulated in the constitution of capitalist countries belongs to the people, but only see? All power belongs to the people? Principle, but in fact? All power belongs to the people? It is the creative application and development of the principle of people's sovereignty by the proletariat in the process of establishing its own political power and on the basis of critically inheriting bourgeois democratic thoughts. All power belongs to the people? In essence, sovereignty lies with the people.
Basic principles of the constitution ii. Basic human rights principles
Human rights refer to the rights that a person should enjoy. Although human beings are not abstract, but concrete, they are people in society. Therefore, when human rights are combined with a certain person, they have to be branded with the objective social and historical conditions in which this person lives, thus making human rights have a distinct class nature in class society. But as far as the most original meaning of human rights is concerned, it is essentially a deserved right and a moral right. Moreover, although scholars have different views on when human rights originated, for example, human rights are the product of the development of human society to a certain class and came into being after the law, or human rights came into being with human production, the slogan of human rights was first put forward by western bourgeois enlightenment thinkers in the 17 and 18 centuries, and their understanding is basically the same.
In slave society and feudal society, not only the state power was established in? Sacred right? On the basis of this, it also publicly promotes hierarchical privilege and inequality. With the emergence and development of capitalist commodity economy at the end of feudal society and the continuous improvement of bourgeois economic status, the emerging bourgeoisie also strongly demands the destruction of the theory of divine right of monarchy and creates conditions for the development of capitalism with freedom and equality as the core. Therefore, western bourgeois enlightenment thinkers put forward in 17 and 18 centuries? Natural rights? The theory emphasizes the inherent freedom, equality, the right to pursue happiness and property. Under the guidance of natural human rights theory and human rights slogans put forward by enlightenment thinkers, the bourgeoisie began to fight for human rights. During and after the bourgeois revolution, human rights slogans were gradually recognized as basic principles by political declarations and constitutions.
After the establishment of a socialist country, the basic principles of human rights have also been confirmed in the Constitution. Although in terms of wording, the socialist constitution does not directly cooperate? Human rights? The word, not the constitution? Basic rights of citizens? In essence, it is a confirmation of basic human rights. For example, citizens' rights and freedoms to participate in the political life of the country, citizens' personal freedom and freedom of belief, and citizens' social, economic and cultural rights. The Constitution of China stipulates the main contents of basic human rights. At the same time, experts said that the essence of political power in a socialist country is that the people are the masters of the country, and the basic rights and freedoms of citizens are the most direct embodiment of the people being the masters of the country. Therefore, if there is no such provision in the constitution, then it can only be an abstract principle that the people are the masters of the country.
It must be made clear that since the basic human rights principles embodied in the capitalist constitution are centered on bourgeois ownership, although its constitutional norms are often expressed in the form of universal enjoyment of human rights by citizens, its characteristic is to cover up the class nature of human rights with the universality of human rights; The socialist constitution, on the other hand, openly restricts some human rights of a few hostile elements in specific norms, which is characterized by its class nature to seek the universality of human rights.
Basic principles of the constitution. The principle of rule of law
The rule of law is relative to the rule of man. It refers to a way in which the ruling class legalizes and institutionalizes state affairs according to democratic principles and manages them strictly according to law. It is an important democratic principle advocated by 17 and 18 century bourgeois enlightenment thinkers. For example, Locke believes that the government should rule through the established laws promulgated by the government. These laws treat the rich and the poor, the powerful and the cultivators equally, and do not differ according to special circumstances. Paine also said that the king of China is the law in an autocratic government, and the law of a free country should also be the king. Its core idea is to govern the country according to law, everyone is equal before the law, and any organization or individual is opposed to enjoying privileges outside the law.
This proposition has played a great role in opposing feudal autocratic privileges and establishing and maintaining bourgeois democracy. Therefore, after the victory of the bourgeois revolution, various capitalist countries have generally implemented the spirit of the principle of rule of law in their constitutional provisions and political practice. In their view, the constitution itself is a symbol of the country's implementation of the rule of law, and constitutional norms generally declare that everyone is equal before the law. For example, the Declaration of Human Rights, as the preface of the French Constitution 197 1, declares that laws are the embodiment of the public will, and all the people in the country have the right to participate in the formulation of laws in person or through their representatives. The law is the same for all people, whether to protect or punish them. All citizens are equal before the law, so they can hold all official positions equally according to their own abilities, and there should be no other differences except virtue and talent, and so on. However, because the foundation of capitalist countries is the privilege of capital, the principle of rule of law cannot be truly realized in capitalist countries.
The establishment of the political power of socialist countries has brought the principle of rule of law into a new historical stage. If the rule of law in capitalist countries is the rule of law that embodies capital privileges, then the principle of socialist rule of law is the rule of law aimed at eliminating privileges. The constitution of a socialist country not only declares that the constitution is the fundamental law of the country, has the highest legal effect, and is the highest code of conduct for all state organs and all citizens, but also stipulates that the legislative power of the state belongs to the supreme people's representative organ. In this way, in socialist countries, not only the constitution and laws have a broad and profound democratic foundation, but all organs, organizations and individuals must act in strict accordance with the law, and the socialist public ownership of the means of production is the strong backing, thus making the principle of socialist rule of law a prerequisite for real realization.
Basic principles of the constitution. Principle of power restriction
The principle of power restriction refers to the principle that all parts of state power supervise and restrict each other to protect citizens' rights. It includes both the restriction of civil rights on state power and the restriction of state power on state power. The reason why power restriction is the basic principle of the constitution mainly depends on the logical starting point and basic content of the constitution. Although the fundamental reason for the emergence of modern constitution is the general development of commodity economy, from the political situation, it is the change of state power owners. That is to say, when the state power is changed from a minority ownership in the past to a formal majority ownership, that is, after the emergence of people's sovereignty, the owner of state power and the exerciser of state power are separated from each other due to various subjective and objective reasons.
In order to ensure the proper position and function of the owner of state power, and make this guarantee mechanism have enough authority, the fundamental law of the state that confirms the right to restrict power came into being. As far as the basic content of the Constitution is concerned, it not only guarantees that citizens' rights are always in the core and dominant position, but also clearly stipulates the restriction mechanism between different parts of state power. In the constitution of capitalist countries, the principle of power restriction is mainly the principle of decentralization; In the constitution of socialist countries, the principle of power restriction is mainly manifested as the principle of supervision.
The principle of separation of powers is also called the principle of public power and checks and balances. Decentralization refers to the division of state power into several parts, which are independently exercised by several state organs; Checks and balances mean that these state organs maintain a mutually restrictive and balanced relationship when exercising their will to power. The principle of decentralization was established by the bourgeoisie according to the modern idea of decentralization during the bourgeois revolution in Europe and America in the 17 and 18 centuries. It provides a plan for establishing bourgeois democratic system to replace feudal autocracy after bourgeois revolution.
The American Constitution from 65438 to 0787 established the state power system according to the typical principle of separation of powers and checks and balances. The French declaration of human rights says? If rights are not guaranteed and powers are not separated, there will be no constitution. . Influenced by the United States, France and other countries, the constitutions of capitalist countries have confirmed the principle of separation of powers in different forms. Judging from the political practice of capitalist countries, the principle of decentralization has played a very important role in establishing and consolidating the bourgeois democratic system. For example, American President Nixon was forced to resign, although it was the result of bourgeois monopoly groups, but the principle of decentralization was also an important part. With the increasing expansion of executive power and the shrinking of legislative power in capitalist countries, the principles of decentralization and checks and balances are also declining.
The principle of supervision in socialist countries was initiated by the Paris Commune, the first dictatorship of the proletariat. Marx pointed out: Commune is composed of city representatives elected by universal suffrage in all districts of Paris. These representatives are accountable to the voters and can be replaced at any time. Engels also pointed out that from the beginning, the commune announced that all its own representatives and officials could be replaced at any time without exception to ensure that it could guard against them.
This principle was initiated by the Paris Commune and regarded as an important democratic principle by the socialist countries under the dictatorship of the proletariat, and it was clearly stipulated in the constitutions of various countries. According to the current constitution of China, the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at various levels are democratically elected, accountable to the people and subject to their supervision? ,? The state administrative organs, judicial organs and procuratorial organs are all produced by, accountable to and supervised by the National People's Congress? ,? People's Republic of China (PRC) citizens have the right to criticize and make suggestions to any state organ or functionary? ,? When handling criminal cases, the people's courts, people's procuratorates and public security organs shall be responsible for the division of labor, cooperate with each other and check each other to ensure accurate and effective law enforcement? Wait a minute. Nevertheless, the legalization and institutionalization of the concept of supervision, especially the principle of supervision, needs to be strengthened. Therefore, in the constitutional practice of socialist countries, there is still a lot of work to be done to implement the principle of power restriction.
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