Constitutional power - kenpouseiteikenryoku

Japanese: 憲法制定権力 - けんぽうせいていけんりょく
Constitutional power - kenpouseiteikenryoku

It refers to the power to create the constitutional order of the state (pouvoir constituant) and to be distinguished from the power to amend the constitution (pouvoir constitué), which is the power established by the constitution. The constitutive power was theorized by Sieyès in What is the Third Estate? (1789). According to this, the source of all legitimacy is the will of the people, or the Third Estate, and the constitutive power is based on this will. Sieyès' theory had a great influence in driving the unprivileged Third Estate to the French Revolution. However, the bourgeoisie during the revolution (those who drafted the 1791 Constitution) tried to prevent the further progress of the revolution based on the former by regarding the constitutive power as the right to amend the constitution. On the other hand, in Germany in the early 20th century, under the dominance of the theory of the state as a legal person and legal positivism, no special attention was paid to the constitutive power as distinguished from the legislative power. However, Carl Schmitt is said to have provided a theoretical foundation for Nazism by defining the power to make a constitution as the political will = political decision that determines the entire existence of the political body, and by distinguishing it from the power to amend the constitution.

Because the power to draft constitutions is related to the very foundation of the state system, there is debate as to whether it is an unconstrained power or a power that is subject to some legal constraints. For example, French constitutional scholar G. Burdeau considers the power to draft constitutions to be original, autonomous, and unconditional, but he also seeks to limit its exercise as a physical force by positioning it as a legal power (pouvoir de droit).

[Yasuji Hata]

"Constitutional Power" by Nobuyoshi Ashibe (1983, University of Tokyo Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

国家の憲法秩序を創造する権力pouvoir constituant(フランス語)をいう。憲法によって確定された権力pouvoir constitué(フランス語)としての憲法改正権と区別される。憲法制定権力を理論づけたのはシエイエスの『第三階級とは何か』(1789)である。それによれば、あらゆる合法性の源泉は国民=第三階級の意思であり、憲法制定権力はこの意思に基づくものである。シエイエスの理論は、非特権階級である第三階級をフランス革命に駆り立てるうえで大きな影響を与えた。もっとも、革命期のブルジョアジー(「1791年憲法」の制定者たち)は憲法制定権力を憲法改正権としてとらえることによって、前者を根拠とする革命のいっそうの進展を妨げようとした。他方、20世紀初頭のドイツでは、国家法人説および法実証主義の支配下にあって、立法権と区別された憲法制定権力に特別の注意は向けられていない。しかし、カール・シュミットは、政治体の全存在を確定する政治的意思=政治的決断として憲法制定権力を定義し、これを憲法改正権と区別することによってナチズムに理論的基礎を与えたといわれている。

 憲法制定権力は国家体制の根幹にかかわることから、それが無制約の権力であるのか、なんらかの法的制約を伴う権力であるのかについて議論がある。たとえば、フランスの憲法学者ビュルドーG. Burdeauは、憲法制定権力を始源的・自律的・無条件的権力であるとしながらも、それを法的な権力pouvoir de droitとして位置づけることによって、物理的な力としての憲法制定権力の行使に歯止めをかけようとしている。

[畑 安次]

『芦部信喜著『憲法制定権力』(1983・東京大学出版会)』

出典 小学館 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について 情報 | 凡例

<<:  Obligation to respect and uphold the Constitution

>>:  Amnesia - amnesia

Recommend

Nassau (English spelling)

The capital of the Bahamas, in the northwest of th...

Giant scorpion - Giant scorpion

...They range from tiny ones less than 3cm in len...

Atrichornis clamosus (English spelling) Atrichornisclamosus

…[Naoya Abe]. … *Some of the terminology that men...

Ribosomal RNA

...The mechanism that controls mRNA synthesis, wh...

Reburial - Kaisoka

...Others were granted by application. According ...

Henan (Tuyuhun)

…The son of Murong Shegui, a Liaodong Xianbei, Tu...

Nanshuji Temple

This temple is of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism, Da...

Tsugu [Village] - Tsugu

A village in Kitashitara County, northeastern Aich...

Asukabehime - Asukabehime

…She became the wife of Prince Yasuyuku when Prin...

Synthetic rubber

In contrast to natural rubber (NR), this is a gen...

Rodo

Uruguayan writer and thinker. Born in the capital,...

Kitahara ruins

This is a site from the middle Yayoi period locate...

Marcel Deprez

1843‐1918 French engineer. He established the foun...

Jean de France, duc de Berry (English spelling)

…In the early 12th century, the city was incorpor...

Andree, W.

... Early excavations were mainly carried out at ...