自由主义还是社会民主主义--浅议宪政原理

社会民主主义和自由主义的相似与重合之处甚多,参照于中国当前现实考虑他们所能起的参考、借鉴作用,二者的相同之处更是多于相异之处。但是,谈到在宪政基本原理方面所起的作用,二者的差异就比较大。这是因为,宪政的出发点是维护人的权利和自由,并以权力的分立和制衡来加以保障。提出并深刻阐明这种宪政原理的是自由主义,社会民主主义的主要长处之一是忠实地继承了这种理念。现在有一种观点认为,社会民主主义是自由主义和社会主义之间的第三条道路,这是不正确的。

Leberalism or Social Democracy--Remarks on the principles of constitutionalism

There are many similarities and concidences between social democracy and liberalism and there are even more between the two regarding to their role played as making use of experience for reference in the reality of China. However, talking about the role played as a basic constitutional principle, they differ from each other greatly, because the starting point of constitutionalism is to protect people's right and freedom and guarantee it by separation and check of power. It is liberalism that puts forward and expounds profoundly this principle, and what social democracy does (and its main merit) is only that it has inherited truthfully this idea. It is wrong to think that social democracy is the third way besides liberalism and socialism.