本文以法哲學、法理學、法社會學、法律思想史的角度來討論近百年來西方民主政治基礎的憲政主義,認為憲政主義為立憲政府依法行政,落實憲法的目標、精神、條文,與法治而保障人民的基本權利,實行社會的福祉。在理論上探討憲法與社會各部門(sectors; segments, subsystems, all works of social life)之關聯;在實踐上企圖解決人民的權利(特別是自由、平等、安全)與政府的廉能(有為、有守、效率)之問的矛盾。全文分別析述霍布斯、洛克、孟德斯鳩、盧梭、康得、黑格爾、馬克思、韋伯、舒密特、海耶克、帕森思和哈伯瑪斯等人有關憲法與社會各部門之辯證、互動,以及西洋各大思想家對憲政主義的看法。
This essay deals with modern constitutionalism as the main cornerstone of Western liberal democracy. It explicates the ideas of the leading political and legal thinkers since the disintegration of European feudalism. In terms of the fundamental approaches of the philosophy of law, jurisprudence, legal sociology and the history of legal-political theory, the article traces out the ingenuous perspectives and innovative views of major social and political theorists, including Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Weber, Schmitt, Hayek, Parsons and Habermas. They not only touch upon the basic spirit of the existing and ideal constitution, but also discuss its relations with various sectors of society which it represents and reflects on. The treatise concludes that the Western constitutionalism embodies the vital life of the society in which it is deeply embedded.