“人民”做主？民粹主義、民主與人民

Popular Sovereignty? Populism, Democracy and the People

林淑芬(Shu-Fen Lin)

《政治與社會哲學評論》 12期 (2005/03) Pp. 141-182

https://doi.org/10.6523/168451532005030012004

摘要

2004年總統大選前後，對於「民粹主義」的指責甚囂塵上。似乎所有以「人民」之名接合的論述行動，不是引發言語行動上的敵對衝突，便是招致犬儒式的嘲諷或是將之與危害民主劃上等號的警語。我們不禁要問：長久以來與民主政治密不可分的「人民主權」(popular sovereignty)、以「人民」為制憲力量(constituent power)的主張，是不是還有任何意義？當「民粹主義」已經變成一種負面標籤時，其所隱含的是否為：在民主政治之中，「人民」已經不再適合做為民主政治想像的主體／主題／主語(subject)？我們是否應該完全放棄「人民」這個概念的使用，重新想像發明一個新的民主政治主體？倘若如此，什麼是可以取代「人民」的民主政治主體？是自由主義者所推崇的「公民」，或是晚近某些基進民主學者所提倡的「諸眾」(multitude)？這些民主政治主體想像，是否以及如何與「人民」的構成邏輯不同？它們在何種意義上較之「人民」更能符應民主的精神與原則？與此緊密扣連的問題是，當民主政治與「人民主權」分離之後，它所意味的又是什麼呢？這些問題構成了本文主要的問題意識。而本文目前僅以民粹主義、人民與民主的關係的釐清做為書寫的起點。
本文目前所欲探討的並非挑戰以「人民」做為政治主體想像的諸眾理論，而是試圖闡明基進民主政治理論學者Ernesto Laclau對於民粹主義的理論嘗試，說明「人民」做為民主政治主體的形式意涵。然而，由於Laclau晚近益趨形式化的理論發展，不但需要其他理論資源補強使我們對於民粹主義的理解更為完整，同時Laclau對於「人民」如何能夠持續成為基進民主政治主體也欠缺比較實質的介入與闡述，因此本文選擇藉由法國政治哲學家Jacques Rancière對於「人民」以及「民主」概念的獨到理解，進一步說明「人民」如何能夠在一片對於民粹主義的撻伐聲中，持續展現其做為民主政治主體的潛力。

關鍵字

人民 ； 民粹主義 ； 等同邏輯 ； 再現機制 ； 主體化 ； 民主

並列摘要

The presidential election in 2004 had witnessed a great clamor around populism. Almost all discourses articulated around the notion of the people had either provoked antagonistic confrontations and cynical remarks, or been equated with the threat to democracy. One cannot but raise the question: whether the idea of 'popular sovereignty' that has long been associated with democratic politics and the claim that the people are the 'constituent power' remain meaningful at all? When 'populism' has been stigmatized to such an extent, does it imply that the 'people' can no longer fulfill the democratic imaginary, and as a result, the democratic- political subject shall be invented anew to substitute the people? If so, what could that be? Could it be the 'citizen' or, could it be 'multitudes'? To what extent are the articulating principles of those supposedly alternative political subjects different from that of the people? Furthermore, what would be the meaning of democracy if it is to be separated from the idea of 'popular sovereignty'? These questions constitute the main concern of the paper, and the starting point of our discussion would be the relationship between populism, the people and democracy. The current paper first follows the theoretical trajectory of Ernesto Laclau's work on populism, which differs significantly from the common understanding of populism and its relationship with politics proper. This will then be supplemented by Jacques Rancière work on demos and democracy to demonstrate how 'the people' could still act as a democratic-subject.

並列關鍵字

populism ； the logic of equivalence ； subjectivation ； democracy ； the people

參考文獻

蔡英文()。

Laclau, Emesto.(2000).(Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left).

Lefort, Claude.(1988).The Permanence of the Theologico-Political?.(Democracy and Political Theory).

Mouffe, Chantal.(1992).(Dimensions of Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship, Community).

Rancière, Jacques.(1999).Ten Theses on Politics.(Disagreement).