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Article 34 of Chapter IV of the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated by the Nanjing Provisional Government of the Republic of China in March 19 12 stipulates: "The appointment and removal of the military and civilians by the interim president must be approved by the Senate." Article 45 of Chapter V stipulates: "State officials shall countersign when the interim president proposes laws, promulgates laws and issues orders." [2] It is stipulated that the administrative system of the Republic of China adopts the responsibility cabinet system. After Yuan Shikai succeeded Sun Yat-sen as interim president, there were frequent differences with the first Tang cabinet of the Republic of China because of the agency authority. Soon, Yuan and Tang finally clashed on whether to appoint Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili. As a result, he was forced to resign and the cabinet was reorganized. In this way, Yuan Shikai took the first step of breaking the contract. In view of this, most historians have seen the preventive effect of cabinet system on Yuan in the early Republic of China. The problem is that although this can show that the system of the provisional constitution is prescient, it also means that the basic provisions of the provisional constitution on the administrative system of the Republic of China are resourceful and tailor-made, lacking the theoretical origin of the constitution and the realistic basis of the * * * system, which implies that Yuan Shikai has destroyed the constitution. This historical interpretation is actually one-sided.
The Provisional Treaty Law was revised on the basis of 55 Draft Organic Law of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China written by the Senate of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (19 1 1) on February 7th. The constitution stipulates that the administrative system of the Republic of China adopts the cabinet system, not only because the North-South talks were gradually formed at that time, and Yuan Shikai will be the interim president, but also because Song has always advocated the responsibility cabinet system. Song was the third leader of the League after Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing at that time, and his knowledge of politics and law was second to none among revolutionaries. During his study in Japan, Song studied the parliamentary system and state system in Europe and Japan, and translated many constitutions or laws of Britain, America, Germany and Japan. On the basis of fully understanding and comparing the political systems of western European countries and Japan, he finally thinks that China should adopt the cabinet system. The Temporary Contract Law created in Song Dynasty should naturally reflect this political idea.
Wuchang uprising, a hundred echoes. When revolutionaries designed the organizational form of the new provisional central government of the Republic of China, Song advocated the establishment of the responsibility cabinet system. Song's political proposition of taking the responsibility cabinet system as the form of government of the Republic of China is consistent with that after the Revolution of 1911. 19 1 1 year1October 10 After the Wuchang Uprising, more than ten people including Song, Huang Xing and Tian Tong died on1October 28th/kloc-0. Huang Xing is in charge of military affairs and Song is in charge of politics. Mainly devoted to the revision of the Ezhou Constitution proposed by Tang Hualong and other constitutionalists in June 10 and promulgated by the military government. The Ezhou Treaty Law was completed from the end of 10 to the beginning of10, and was published in People's Daily, a revolutionary newspaper, on February 2-6 of 18, entitled "Ezhou Treaty Law and Official System Draft of the Republic of China". Chapter IV of the Constitution, Members of the Special Council, has the appearance of cabinet system design. On February 3, 65438, the Provisional Government Charter drafted by Lei Fen, Ma and Wang was published. The outline adopts the presidential system to the political system, and the relevant laws and regulations are not perfect. Therefore, when 65438+February 1 1 was published in People's Daily, Song made a feature commentary and criticized it. Therefore, he made an enemy with Ma and others, and the contradiction deepened in the future. 65438+February 10, Song started from Wuchang and headed for Benning and Shanghai. Song met with provincial representatives at the Jiangsu Education Conference in Shanghai, and tried to persuade provincial representatives to agree to "decide national reunification, set up a responsible cabinet, and set up a government in Wuchang" [3]. On February 26th, 65438, the day after Sun Yat-sen returned to China and arrived in Shanghai, Huang Xing, Song and Chen, leaders of the League in Shanghai, hosted a banquet in Harbin Garden in the afternoon. "At the banquet, the British scholar Ke Qiang and the dull little businessman made the prime minister a big president and signaled to the delegates in different ways." In the evening, when they got together at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss the government organization plan, there were differences between Sun Yat-sen and Song. "Song Dunchu advocated cabinet system, the prime minister insisted. He strongly suggested that Blunt Chu cancel the proposal, which is still under discussion. [4] The reason for Sun Yat-sen's opposition is: "The cabinet system does not cause political shock to the head of state in peacetime, so it is definitely inappropriate for the Prime Minister to be responsible to the National Assembly. We can't re-establish the laws and regulations of the defense system for the only person who believes in the proposal. I also refused to accept other people's opinions and pretended to be a sacred wart to delay the revolutionary plan. " [5] Therefore, in the case of different opinions, when Sun Yat-sen asked Huang Xing and Song to be prime ministers of the cabinet, both Huang and Song expressed no intention.
After the Shanghai meeting, people returned to Nanjing from Shanghai. On the evening of June 365438+February 3 1, according to Sun Yat-sen's opinion brought by Huang Xing, representatives of all provinces met to discuss and revise the Organizational Outline of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, which was published at the meeting of representatives of provincial governors a month ago. Song, Ju Zheng and others immediately put forward a series of amendments to the organic law of the interim government. Regarding the cabinet system, Article 17 of the original outline of the amendment is "to be changed to a member of the state to carry out government affairs. When the interim president issues laws and orders related to government affairs, he must sign them. " [6] After the amendment was passed, because there was a provision in the revised outline that the interim president could freely formulate formal regulations without the consent of the Senate, the words of Song as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet became popular for a while. Many people, such as Ma, think that since the official regulations are freely formulated by the temporary president, the post of Prime Minister can be established at any time, and as a political arrangement and exchange, Song can be appointed as Prime Minister by Sun Yat-sen at any time. Therefore, the cabinet system and other provisions in the "Amendment to the Outline of the Interim Government" proposed by the Song Dynasty are misunderstood as selfish. Song was puzzled by this. [7] In the first year of the Republic of China, 1, 1, Sun Yat-sen became the president of the Nanjing Provisional Government. The next day, the provincial representatives met again and decided to revise the organizational outline of the interim government. Representatives of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangxi and Fujian provinces thought that the number of delegates in the previous day's meeting was insufficient 10 province, and it was "held at night", but "amendments were proposed after the previous day's resolution", the provisions on the deputy authority of state officials were deleted, and the phrase "subject to the consent of the Senate" was added to the authority of the interim president to formulate the official system and appoint and dismiss officials, and the relevant provisions of the original outline were restored. [8] Song's suggestion of cabinet system was not adopted in the Revision of the Outline of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China promulgated by 19 12 on June 2nd.
This situation had a rather unfavorable influence on the Song Dynasty. When the Senate discussed and approved the list of short-term cabinet officials of the interim government, Sun Yat-sen nominated Song as the Minister of the Interior, but "Song lost the trust of the delegates because he advocated amending the organizational outline of the interim government, and most people opposed it." [9]1965438+At the beginning of February 2002, at the request of Sun Yat-sen, the Nanjing Provisional Government established the Legislative Yuan, with Song as its president, and compiled all the important legal systems of the Provisional Government. As a result, Song's horse was lost, and he was able to give full play to his strengths and practice his ideas. 1965438+On February 7, 2002, the Senate held a meeting to draft an interim constitution and discuss the presidential system or cabinet system. "To this end, Sun Yat-sen invited members and cadres of the League to discuss with him. Hu, secretary-general of the presidential palace, and Song, director of the legal system, held different opinions and had a heated debate. By the resolution of the founding father, it was determined that "the sovereignty of the Republic of China belongs to the whole people." 1 1 day will be announced by the interim government, with 7 chapters and 56 articles in total. The central government follows the French cabinet system and pays special attention to the rights and obligations of the people. [10] At the beginning of the process of amending the Provisional Constitution, the Senate rejected the Draft Organic Law of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China sent by the Legal Affairs Office (bureau) headed by Song as a "reference" for amending the Constitution, and the original proposal was to adopt the presidential system. However, with the gradual progress of the North-South talks, Yuan Shikai will soon succeed the interim president. In terms of constitutional amendment, the Senate revised the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China based on the contents of the Reference Draft originally drafted by the Song Dynasty, especially established the cabinet system of state administrative power. As a result, Song's thoughts and ideas in the Provisional Constitution experienced a process from exclusion to absorption, and Song's political design in the League also experienced a process from argumentation to approval. Although, people who participated in this transformation accepted Song's viewpoint for different reasons.
From another point of view, the cabinet system set up in the temporary contract law is not perfect, mainly because of the power structure. The cabinet system in the provisional treaty attempted to take the advantages of the British cabinet system and the American presidential system, which was more like the political system of the Third Republic of France at that time. But at that time, the French government cabinet was "a servant and two masters" in front of the parliament and the president. It is difficult for two aunts to be women, so the cabinet changes frequently, from two years to a few days. However, Song's design of the government system of the Republic of China did not see this problem at that time. Song had a special liking for the cabinet system based on the parliamentary system, and from his own understanding of the political system, he advocated and implemented the cabinet system impartially. After Tang resigned, Song and other cabinet members resolutely resigned. After Song, they promoted the formation of the Kuomintang in the Senate and participated in the first parliamentary election, all of which reflected Song's political pursuit.
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Song advocated the cabinet system, and one of the obstacles was himself. With Song's position and knowledge, it is easy to feel that Song is paving the way for his fame. When Zhang Taiyan was preparing to recommend Sun Yat-sen as the president, he once said: "When you are promoted to the president, you should use Dexing, Song Yi Cai Xing, and Wang Jingwei uses Dexing." [1 1] Zhang Taiyan also published a declaration on191February 10 that "the prime minister is not suitable for the Song Dynasty", thinking that "as for the establishment of the cabinet, the liegeman should be the first to advocate and can be regarded as a slave. [12] At that time, due to Zhang's remarks such as "the revolutionary army rises and the revolutionary party disappears", it has been separated from most people in Sun Yat-sen League. Therefore, Zhang's announcement put Song in a dilemma. In his autobiography, Hu revealed people's dissatisfaction and doubts about Song: "Blunt lived in Japan for the first time, and he was quite familiar with the art of political parties. He emphasized inner strength, and made friends with Zhao, Zhang, Tang Hualong and Xiong Xiling outside. Constitutionalists enjoyed it, and Song's reputation rose at once, so Zhang did it. But in the end, because of party member, Ke Qiang did not dare to seize the position of leader. At first, he wanted to be president and prime minister. Even though he had to obey the party's discussion, he still advocated the cabinet system. " [13] As far as the relationship between the cabinet system and the personal advance and retreat of Song Dynasty is concerned, Hu's words are very heavy, revealing the "heart" of Song Dynasty. But such connections and accusations are untenable. Song designed the cabinet system in 19 1 1 Draft Law and Official System of Ezhou of the Republic of China drafted for Hubei in early October. Article 39 of Chapter IV "Administrative Members" stipulates: "Administrative members shall sign their names when the Governor promulgates laws and other administrative decrees." [14] Obviously, it cannot be inferred that Song has the intention of being the "Prime Minister of Hubei".
Regarding the suspicion of such gossip, Song once confessed his heart in the long article "Answering Anonymous Refutation" published in People's Daily on March 19 15, 2003, and truthfully defended himself: "The world falsely accused the Prime Minister of our campaign for a long time. Although it has nothing to do with me, I really don't want to argue, because of this matter. Is it evil for your wife to aspire to be prime minister? But not laughing, I really don't understand. Since the country is politics, everyone should be responsible. How can anyone be confident and capable and willing to take the greatest responsibility for the country? This country should welcome them. ..... If people can be confident, they might as well do their part. The world only asks if it has this ability, and it cannot be said that it is inappropriate to have this ambition. We are ashamed that we don't have this ability and don't want to be such a big responsibility. We say nothing about our ambitions. We really hope to be such a responsible person in the future, and I hope everyone has this hope, but we can't hear the waste road. " [15] The reason why Song did not shy away from rumors and suspicions and insisted on the form of cabinet system in the administrative system of democratic government stems from its own political ideas.
First of all, Song believes that the cabinet system is a restrictive responsibility system. After the Revolution of 1911, the political change in China will be "a constitutional government inclined to civil rights" after the collapse of absolute monarchy. There were two specific organizational forms of this regime in the world at that time: one was the presidential system in the United States, and the other was the cabinet system in France. Song once agreed with the presidential system, but after thinking and research, he turned to the cabinet system. Because in Song's view, "If the cabinet is not good, it can be changed. If the president is not good, it will be much easier. If it is necessary to make it easier, it will shake the country. " We don't take the presidential system, we take the cabinet system. [16] Because democracies are often quite unstable compared with authoritarian regimes in the past, Song wanted to limit the instability caused by the constraint of "responsibility" to a certain extent. "He advocated that the government should be formed by political parties and take responsibility. All presidential orders do not need to be countersigned by cabinet members, but must be drafted by cabinet members, so that the president is in an irresponsible position to ensure his safety. "[17] This is to make the government" take responsibility "and be easily boycotted by the parliament without causing major political turmoil, seeking a buffer balance point for political dynamic stability.
Secondly, it is believed that the responsibility cabinet system in Song Dynasty will inevitably lead to good parliamentary politics and party politics. Because the responsible cabinet can only be launched by the parliamentary majority party, in order to assume its due responsibilities. This, in turn, will inevitably lead to the development of parliamentary politics and party politics, so that parliament has the power and political parties are promising. Because in the early years of the Republic of China, the disadvantages of "mixed editing and separation from various cabinets" need not be repeated. Therefore, Song took Britain as an example to explain that "we advocate the responsibility cabinet system, but we especially hope that this system can be realized. If this system is to be realized, it is obvious that the Prime Minister of the Constitution will be introduced by the House of Representatives, and the cover must make the political party with the majority in Congress organize a complete party cabinet, so that the complete party cabinet can be easily established. " Therefore, our party advocates that the Prime Minister be elected by the House of Representatives in the Constitution, which is conducive to the establishment of a responsible cabinet. "[18] The way and theoretical context of this kind of political power competition is that people join political parties, political parties compete for parliament, and parliament competes for cabinet, forming a democratic and politically orderly power competition. Song's expectation of party politics in the Republic of China is that "the prosperity of a country's political parties is only suitable for two major confrontations, not for the separation of small groups." "[19] means that it is neither a multi-party system nor a one-party system, but a two-party system. 19 12 In August, the United League, the United Party, the * * * Progressive Party and other parties merged into the Kuomintang precisely to overcome the situation of numerous parties, different opinions, vertical and horizontal integration and disorder at that time. In the merger statement, Song announced that the purpose of the merger was to "engage in the construction of the Republic of China, gradually take gold as the political center of a constitutional country, and conform to the principle that political parties should become big groups, so as to arouse the idea that a country should only face two major confrontations and make it possible." [20] This declaration shows Song's vision and expectation of how modern party politics should operate.
Third, the Revolution of 1911 originated in the local area, and the provinces showed a trend of "independence" in the early years of the Republic of China, and the cabinet system helped to strengthen centralization and reintegrate the relationship between the central and local governments. As early as Song studied in Japan, a reporter from Japan's "National Daily" had an argument with Sun Yat-sen and Song about whether the China Revolution would split China. Song believes that since the revolution has become a national event, "why can't it be unified?" However, after the revolution, the authority of the central government suddenly declined, and local governments acted in their own way. Therefore, whether the new state structure of the Republic of China adopts federalism or unitary system has become the focus of Chinese people's attention. Song advocated the establishment of a unified country. "Our party does not particularly advocate the adoption of a unitary state system in the Constitution, and strives to actually quote the spirit of a unitary state." [2 1] At that time, the only desirable administrative system and government model of a single state system was the cabinet system in France. Therefore, in Song's view, the cabinet system is the only way to avoid national division and turmoil and form a centralized and unified country. This can be said to be one of the main reasons why Song insisted on the cabinet system.
Finally, the responsibility cabinet system in Song Dynasty also hoped to exclude the influence of the old officials and gentry, so that the political power was in the hands of the "party cabinet" of the League and the Kuomintang. After the Revolution of 1911, the old and new forces were mixed and compatible in the political power, and there were structural contradictions and crises between * * * and the political power. As early as the establishment of the provisional central government, Song wanted to weaken the influence of the old bureaucrat Li. Later, when Yuan Shikai and Li served as interim presidents respectively, Song did fruitful work to form a "complete party cabinet" in the National Assembly. In the platform put forward on behalf of the Kuomintang, the cabinet is required to take responsibility. After the Prime Minister is introduced by the House of Representatives, "other state officials will be organized by the Prime Minister without the consent of the National Assembly." [22]
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Song advocated the responsibility cabinet system without the intention of preventing and balancing Yuan Shikai, which was pointed out in the previous analysis. When the Nanjing Senate discussed how to stop Yuan Shikai by contract law, there was another opinion that the autocratic ambition of the central "power holders" could be stopped by decentralization. Hu held this view and argued with Song, which was recorded in detail in his memoirs. People doubt whether Hu's idea is feasible. Because, first of all, China has been centralized since Qin and Han Dynasties, and local regions and organizational systems have been adjusted repeatedly due to changes. Many provinces have not won completely, which is not enough to compete with the central government; Secondly, the Revolution of 1911 was originally intended to avoid the disaster of national division, national subjugation and extinction. Taking a rich and powerful country as one of the legal foundations of the revolution, the poor decentralization became a local separatist regime. At that time, Poland, Austria and other countries were either dead or weak because of local unity; Japan, Germany and Italy are strong because of reunification, and their experiences and lessons are enough to alert the people. There are many comments on this. Therefore, it is impossible for revolutionaries to test the political consequences and responsibilities of local decentralization and autonomy in order to restrict the Yuan family. Third, judging from the strength comparison at that time, the local power of the League was only in Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces. Even if it was decentralized and autonomous, the local power of the League was not enough to restrict Yuan's military power. Therefore, Song believes that Hu is afraid that centralization may lead to the autocratic ambition of "those in power": "You just doubt Yuan's ears. If the presidential system is changed to cabinet system, the political power of the president will be minimal. Although he is ambitious, he will have to obey it without the supervision of provinces. " [23] It can be seen that the responsibility cabinet system in Song Dynasty can restrain Yuan Shikai's attempt of centralization and dictatorship. It is at this point that Song and Sun Yat-sen have the same idea.
However, Sun Yat-sen's views on the function, function, significance and theoretical basis of political science are quite different from those of Song Dynasty. When the position of interim president was ceded to Yuan Shikai, many revolutionaries were thinking, "Do you want to know the shortcomings of Fu Yuan's family today? Looking back on the history of his life, he is just a wayward little man. ..... Peter Gai took the opportunity to cheat and danced with pride. " [24] Oppose Sun Yat-sen giving way to Yuan. Therefore, Sun Yat-sen regarded the cabinet system as an important measure to prevent Yuan Shikai from betraying the Republic of China and his autocratic ambitions. The theory of "from each according to his ability" can only be attributed to some revolutionaries, such as Sun Yat-sen, but cannot be extended to the whole League, especially the Kuomintang, which was publicly established at the suggestion of Song. Later, Sun Yat-sen did not think that this system should be the main construction of the democratic political and administrative system in the Republic of China, and there was no responsibility cabinet system in the political design of Sun Yat-sen's famous "five-power constitution". The problem of responsible cabinet system has not been clearly put forward in the name of military action of "protecting the law" and "protecting the family" in the future. 192 1 On March 20th, Sun Yat-sen delivered a speech on the "five-power constitution" in Guangzhou, saying: "Among the laws of the Republic of China enacted in Nanjing, only one" the sovereignty of the Republic of China belongs to the whole people "is advocated by the League, and the rest are not meant by the League, so the League will be irresponsible." [25]
In Song's view, the implementation of the responsibility cabinet system is not only decisive for consolidating national unity, strengthening centralization and developing parliamentary politics and party politics during the Republic of China, but also can institutionalize and restrict the power and responsibility relationship between the president and the prime minister as the chief executive. Song attributed the executive power of the country to the cabinet, and its orientation was not who was the president and who was the prime minister, but the definition of the powers and responsibilities of the two positions. Although Song was in charge of the cabinet system and determined to be prime minister, he thought it was not so much a power struggle as a political practice, and firmly believed that he was morally innocent and fair. Song's advance and retreat in the cabinet system, his efforts to strengthen the Kuomintang in the Senate and his election campaign before the establishment of the first Congress of the Republic of China were all based on this and the starting point followed the constitutional theory. In the first congressional election, Song really criticized Yuan Shikai's government in his speeches in various places. But in Song's view, this should be a normal attack and competition between different political forces in politics. 1965438+On March 20th, 2003, Song was shot dead by an assassin sent by Yuan Shikai at Shanghai Railway Station because the reorganized Kuomintang he presided over went north after winning the first parliamentary election of the Republic of China. It was because of this naive mentality that he was puzzled by who did it and muttered, "Who is going to kill me?" Several times. When Song was seriously injured and dying, he instructed Huang Xingdai to repent in his telegram to Yuan Shikai, and entrusted: "Today, the foundation of the country is not solid and the people's happiness is not increasing. If you give up, you will die with hatred. President Fujii is sincere and fair, trying his best to protect civil rights and let Congress determine an unyielding constitution, although the day of death is still a year of hesitation. " [26] His lines are full of sadness and goodwill, which shows his sincerity to the country and the people and his unremitting pursuit of his own political ideas. In his obituary to Song, Sun Yat-sen said: "The first person who shed blood for the Constitution is just and true." The assassination of Song Dynasty, just as public opinion worried about the democratic future of the Republic of China at the same time, not only meant the personal tragedy of Song Dynasty, but also the tragedy of * * * and political modernization efforts in the early Republic of China. Since then, this political modernization process has entered a sharp decline channel and soon turned into a long-term "gun" era.