法国大革命时期全民公决的特点

大革命时期全民公决的理论依据带有难以克服的模糊性,它只能作为代议制的补充,成为法国政治生活中一项非经常性的制度。然而,大革命时期就宪法所举行的三次全民公决又为这一制度奠定了合法性基础,全民公决观念从此在法国落地生根。全民公决虽不存在民意操纵问题,但却有政治派别斗争的成分掺杂其中。这一特点预设了全民公决制度化发展过程中的全部困境。

The Characteristics of the Referendum during the French Revolution

This article begins with three serious mistakes made by the advocates of the Popular Sovereignty theory in order to analyze the formidable ambiguity of the basic theory of the referendum during the French Revolution and to indicate that the referendum institution can only be a supplement of the representative system.Thereafter,the referendum became an irregular institution in the French political life.However,three referendums about the constitutions during the French Revolution had laid a firm foundation for this institution's legitimacy.We can safely conclude that the referendums during the French Revolution denote some elements of conflict among the different political parties,though there was no phenomenon of manipulating the public opinion.And this characteristic makes the referendum very difficult to develop into a normal institution.