Jean-Jacques Rousseau put forward the idea in the section of The Social Contract on the "people" that politicians, when legislating, must first survey and test the foundations like architects to see if the soil can bear the weight of a building. At that time, he took a fancy to the newly independent Republic of Corsica, believing that it had good soil to build a "kingdom of reason". He boldly prophesied:
"I have a hunch that one day that island will shock all of Europe."
However, the "Kingdom of Reason" was not established in Corsica, because in 1768 the feudal French Empire invaded the land and destroyed the construction of a new society. But Rousseau's prophecy was fulfilled in another way, because in the second year of Corsica's incorporation into France, a figure who shook all of Europe was born, his name was Napoleon!
Rousseau was looking forward to Corsica
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > must have good people before they can formulate good laws</h1>
Shortly after the publication of The Social Contract, Rousseau was persecuted for his book Emile and went into exile. While he was living in Motier, the rabble threw stones into his house and threatened his safety. Eventually Rousseau had to move to seclusion on the island of Saint-Pierre, when the Corsicans read the Social Contract and wrote to Rousseau asking him to make a constitution for the new republic. This brought a touch of warmth to the lonely Rousseau, who recorded the incident at the end of the Confessions and said that he had already begun to write. However, the unfortunate thinker was again expelled and had to flee to England, and the manuscript was not finished.
More than seventy years after Rousseau's death, several packages of manuscripts were found in a monk's house, which Rousseau had stored with her. The manuscript was later published under the name Corsican Constitutional Opinion, in which Rousseau continued the question of the Social Contract, saying:
"In some countries, no matter what method of governance, they are not governed well, because the law does not work for them, and a government that does not have the law to follow cannot be a good government."
He then summed up this point in the Preface:
"The sages who act according to the rules advocate the establishment of a government for the people first, but I think it is better to train the people for the government first."
Rousseau's once lost legacy
For Rousseau, the people were like soil, and the government was the building built on it. If the geology is as soft as a patch of sand, then only a simple tent can be set up on it. Ancient thinkers understood this very well, so Confucius admonished his disciples that "dangerous countries do not enter, chaotic countries do not live"; Plato refused to legislate for the Agadians, because he knew that the people of this nation were arrogant and lascivious, could not accept the concept of equality, and even fair laws would inevitably be ruined in their hands.
Second, if the soil is dry and cracked and difficult to loosen, and even if the water of truth flows past, it cannot be moistened, then such a place is only worthy of being accompanied by a tattered hut. Because the people here are stuck in their own ways, as soon as someone wants to dig deeper into the foundation, they will immediately attack it, and any reform will be difficult to work. Until the huts were blown down by the wind, they refused to change. Thus, Rousseau said:
"Once customs are established and prejudices are entrenched, it is dangerous and useless to try to change. The people are like stupid and cowardly patients who dream of doctors, and can no longer bear to accuse them of their mistakes in order to cure their diseases. ”
Rousseau believed that the people were the soil of the state system, and without the support of the people of good character, any advanced system that came in would be like falling into a dyeing vat, and immediately lost its true color. Lu Xun also expressed the same view in the "Book of Two Places", saying: "The initial revolution was full and easy to achieve, and the second reform was the national reform of its own roots, so it was refused." ”
If the formulation of good laws is conditional on good people, then all we have to do is to educate the people through enlightenment so that they can continue to progress and awaken. Rousseau believed that the state, like man, has its own adolescence and maturity, and it will be relatively easy to change the people's ideas in adolescence, so that when it matures, the people will obey the law and become docile and cultured. But some countries, like the roughly educated teenagers from an early age, mature as barbaric as their parents and pass it on from generation to generation. Therefore, the work of enlightenment is very necessary.
We must know that only when there are good people can there be good laws. Only with the support of good people can the government be urged to go hand in hand.
Corsica was incorporated into French territory in 1768
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the principle of the Constitution of the Republic of Corsica</h1>
The Social Contract deals with universal principles, while the Corsican Constitutional Opinions plan specific operations, in which many of the shortcomings of Rousseau's ideas are exposed. For example, he despised the city because of his love of the countryside, forcibly distributed the population to all parts of the country, encouraged the use of moneyless transactions, and so on, all of which have elements of fantasy. However, there are also many points of reference in the book, such as the values of equality, the methods of specific analysis of specific problems, and the political principles of popular sovereignty. Moreover, Rousseau, like the later Sismondi, made a harsh critique of the shortcomings of the capitalist economy from the perspective of small producers, which other Enlightenment thinkers could not match. In expressing his constitutional principles, he said:
"It is the basic law for the prosperity of the country that everyone can live in peace and no one will ever become rich; the method I have proposed can achieve this end as directly as possible."
Rousseau was very disgusted by the exploitation of the countryside by the cities, and disgusted with the oppression of the laborers by the court nobles and the commercial tycoons, saying:
"A few people are getting richer, but the masses are getting poorer: these two situations together will inevitably lead to the multiplication of evils and the destruction of the country."
Therefore, for the Republic of Corsica to establish good laws, it must first focus on the economic sphere. Corsica had just been liberated from the oppression of Genoa, and its most urgent task was to achieve independence and self-reliance. Without either, defending freedom is an empty phrase. The Corsicans must first increase their population, so it is important to pay attention to the development of agriculture, to involve more people in farming, to ensure food security, and to avoid the crisis caused by Genoa's blockade of food imports. The peasant population has relocated to the land, has the deepest affection for the land and the country, and if the means of the peasants are adopted, then they will become an indestructible armed force. Only when agriculture is mature and food is sufficiently self-sufficient can we begin to develop industry and commerce and increase the total amount of wealth. Rousseau called this principle "Commerce creates wealth, while agriculture guarantees freedom." ”
In such a new type of agricultural country, the broad masses of the people are peasants, and their position of power should be equal. Thus, economic development necessarily leads to political change, and people "may exterminate the nobility, strip them of their privileges and titles, and confiscate the land of the great feudal lords." "Because the state does not yet have the financial resources to support the functioning of a large government, so in the early days of the establishment of the Republic of Corsica, the greek city-state of democracy for the whole people was achieved, and this kind of government was the cheapest, and it did not need huge funds to maintain the expenditure.
In such an adolescent republic, its economic principle is physiocratism, and its political principle is the equality of all.
Rousseau's economics had an element of agronism
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the political system of the Republic of Corsica</h1>
As agriculture matures, industry and commerce develop, the country's population and wealth increase, and maturity is approaching, corsican's political system will also be moderately adjusted.
First, the Greek-style republic gradually shifted to a modern representative system, and the government changed from a popular type to a mixed type. In this way, the people can entrust administrative power to a small elite and let them carry out social governance. But the principle of equality has not been broken, because the people can gather together in part and dismiss these deputies at any time. The people have always been the supreme sovereigns, and equality has always been the fundamental principle of the Republic. In this regard, Rousseau emphasized:
"Sovereignty is built to defend equality, because all men are created equal."
Subsequently, the jurisdictions of the whole country should also be re-divided to maintain a balanced development between the regions. It would be better for the capital to be built in the center of the country and to choose a place where the soil is not fertile, so as to avoid a part of the people sitting around and controlling the government. Rousseau's chosen capital was Corte, which was located in the highest region of the island, with scarce resources and difficult production. It is only suitable for public officials to live briefly during their tenure, and it is not possible to live around the center of power from generation to generation, as the hereditary princes did.
The various jurisdictions have a great deal of autonomy and people do not need to be subject to Corté, so Corsican has a federal system.
The people of the country are divided into three levels, the lowest of which is the reserve student, who is included in the ranks of the reserve student before reaching adulthood; the second level is the national, who is married but underage, who can become a national as long as he has an estate in his name; the first level is a citizen, and all Corsicans who have reached the age of twenty can join after an oath, and the national can become a citizen if he has two children. The Republic admits foreign immigrants only once every fifty years and grants them the rights they deserve.
Like More's Utopia, Rousseau had his own ideal state
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the distribution of power in the Republic of Corsica</h1>
Since the Opinions were just a bunch of unfinished manuscripts, Rousseau failed to present a complete set of governments to the world like Montesquieu. We can only speculate about his thoughts based on a few sporadic passages in the Afterword:
The land in Corsica is owned by the State, and each province verifies the amount of tax payable per citizen according to the land figures recorded on the land deeds, and the taxpayer can pay it in kind or in cash. Then an audit office is formed by the country's first-class talents, who are responsible for managing the revenue.
Rousseau declared that "I do not mean to advocate the absolute elimination of personal property, because it is impossible", but he stressed that the law needs to impose restrictions on personal property. The law cannot forcibly deprive an individual of any legal land, but only restricts him from owning more land, so as to curb land annexation.
The power of the government is to be exercised according to the law, and what the law does not authorize cannot be done. No one can become an official by his own origins, and on the island every adult can only have the status of "citizen", and this identity alone includes other identities.
The judges of the Supreme Court enjoy a great deal of independence, they hold judicial power in their jurisdictions and are even able to convene three levels of meetings as they deem necessary. And their bodies are inviolable, and no one has the right to arrest them on the island. Judges can be removed from office only through the General Assembly, and as long as judges are not removed for violating the law, they will serve for life. The purpose of this is so that judges do not have to work in accordance with officials, voters, public opinion or money, and their only superiors are the law, and they are only responsible for the law.
Finally Rousseau did not forget to remind the Corsicans that good law can only be based on their way of life, not on the product of a momentary passion. The heroic passion of the masses will be fleeting, but the way of life will never change. He warned the Corsicans not to forget the suffering of being enslaved by Genoa, and said:
"The people of any country can only enjoy freedom for a long time if they cherish freedom."