government theory

Chapter 45: On the Subordination of State Power
149．In an organized state founded on independence and acting according to its own nature (for the protection of society), although there can be but one supreme power, the legislative, all others are wholly and necessarily subordinate, yet Because the legislative power is only a delegated power exercised for a certain purpose, the people still have the supreme power to remove or replace the legislature when they find that the legislative act is contrary to their mandate; Powers entrusted to an end are as soon as restricted by that end, and when that end is manifestly neglected or thwarted, the delegation is bound to be revoked, and the power reverts back to those to whom it was delegated, who can renew it. Grant it to someone they feel will keep them safe.

Men, therefore, always retain a supreme power to defend themselves against the attacks and schemes of any body, not even their legislators.Sometimes legislators, through stupidity or malice, have designs on the rights and property of the people, and try to carry them out.For no man or society has the right to commit his security, or the means of protection corresponding thereto, to another, to submit to his absolute will and subject to his arbitrary rule.Whoever wishes to keep them in this state of servitude, they have the right to protect that which they have not relinquished power, and to drive out those who violate this fundamental, sacred and immutable law of self-defense, which In this case they joined society in self-defense.Therefore, though the commonwealth always has the supreme power in this respect, it is not so in every constitution, for this supreme power of the people can only be exercised when the government is dissolved.

150．As long as there is a government, the legislative power is the highest power in every case.This is because if a man is to make laws over another man, he must be over that man.Moreover, the reason why the legislative power is the legislative power of society is that it has the power to make laws for all parts and every member of the society, to lay down their rules of conduct, and if the laws are violated, it can authorize them to be enforced, so the legislative power is It must be the supreme power, from which and to which all other powers in any member or part of society are derived.

151．In some countries the legislature is not a permanent body and the executive power belongs to a single person who also participates in the legislation.In this case, the person may be called, broadly speaking, the Supreme Power.But this does not mean that he himself has the highest legislative power, but because he has the highest executive power, all subordinate officials have from him some, or at least the largest part, of subordinate power; The legislature, which cannot make laws without his assent, nor can he be expected to be bound by the other parts of the legislature, is in this sense, therefore, quite aptly said to be supreme.

It must be observed, however, that the oath of allegiance to him is not made of him as the supreme legislator, but as the supreme executor of laws made in joint power with others.As for allegiance, it is nothing but obedience to the law. If he breaks the law himself, he has no right to demand obedience from others, because he can demand obedience from others because he is a public servant endowed with legal powers, and he should be regarded as a servant of the state. Symbols, representations, or representations, acting in accordance with the will of society expressed in the laws of the country.He therefore has no will, no power, but only the will of the law and the power of the law.If, however, he does not act as such a representative, leaving the public will, and acting only by his own private will, his status is reduced, and he becomes only an individual who has the right to be obeyed, but has no power or will of his own. , because members of society have no other obligation of obedience than that of obeying the public will of society.

152．If the executive power is vested elsewhere, not at the same time with those who take part in the legislation, it is evidently subject to and responsible to the legislature, and may be transferred and replaced by the legislature at will.It is not, therefore, the highest executive power which is free from subjection to others, but only so far as it belongs to those who take part in the legislative power.Since this man participates in legislation, he is not subordinate to, nor responsible to, any higher legislature than that of which he participates and consents.He is therefore subject to men only when he thinks fit, but it may be concluded that such occasions are rare.We need not speak of the other subsidiary and subordinate powers of a state, as they vary according to the customs and organization of nations, and it is impossible to detail them all.On this point, we will only state as far as this article requires, namely, that they have no authority other than that based on express charters and mandates, and that they are all responsible to some other power in the state.

153．The legislature is not always necessary, nor convenient, but the executive is absolutely necessary, because it is not always necessary to make new laws, but often to enforce those that are made.Legislatures, having delegated to others the execution of the laws they have made, have the power to withdraw them as they deem it necessary, and to punish any maladministration.The same is true of the external power, which and the executive power are auxiliary and subordinate to the legislative power.As before, in an organized state, the legislative power is the highest power.In such cases, the legislature, if it were a single person, would have to be constantly present, so that it would have both legislative and supreme executive powers, so that the legislature should consist of several persons, who could assemble and exercise their legislative power, They shall be convened at the time fixed by their original constitution, or at the time appointed at their adjournment, if neither has appointed any time and no other method of convening them has been prescribed, that is, at their own think the right time.For the supreme power, which is vested in them by the people, is always in their possession, and may be exercised at such time as they think fit, unless by the original constitution they exercise it only for certain periods of time, or By some act of their supreme power, it has been decided to adjourn until a certain time, and only when that time comes, will they have the right to assemble and exercise their powers again.

154．If the legislature, or any part of it, is composed of representatives elected by the people, but they act as representatives only for a certain time, after which they revert to the ordinary status of subjects, and cannot take part in the legislature unless they are re-elected, This suffrage, then, must also be exercised by the people at appointed times, or when they are called to take part in the election of the legislature.In the latter case, usually only the executive has the power to convene the legislature, and this is limited in time by two circumstances: or the original organic law stipulates that the legislature shall meet and exercise its powers at regular intervals, if In this case, the executive power is only to issue administrative instructions, requiring the people to conduct elections and assemblies in accordance with proper forms; or to amend old laws or formulate new laws according to the situation or public requirements, or to eliminate or prevent threats to the people. In the event of any obstacle in the way of the people, use the executive power to make a deliberate decision to summon them by calling new elections.

155．It may perhaps be asked, What if the executive power possesses the power of the state, to prevent the assembly and exercise of the legislature, according to the original organic law or public demand?I consider it an act of enmity against the people to exercise power over the people, in violation of the trust entrusted to him, and by abusing their powers, when the people have the right to restore the legislature, and make it exercise power again.Because the purpose of the people setting up the legislature is to enable the legislature to exercise the power of enacting laws at a certain time or when necessary. and protection, the people have the right to sweep them away by force.In every case and condition, force for force is the true remedy for force that abuses its power.Because the use of force beyond authority often puts the person who uses force into a state of war and becomes an aggressor, so he must also be treated as an aggressor.

156．Although the executive has the power to summon and dismiss the legislature, the executive is not superior to the legislature, and it is a trust for the safety of the people, since human affairs are so fickle that no immutable rules can apply.Moreover, the men who first created the government could not have had the foresight to foresee future events sufficiently to fix the convocation and duration of the legislative assemblies for a long period of time in the future, fully fitting all the exigencies of the country, It is, therefore, the best remedy for the people to remedy this defect, to entrust the matter to one who is always present and charged with the care of the public welfare, to make prudent decisions.For the people, the frequent and unnecessarily long duration of the legislature is a burden, and sometimes even more dangerous disadvantages; help.

Delayed calling of sessions may endanger the public, for legislatures are sometimes so overburdened with their work that they cannot secure the work within the limited sitting time, and the public are deprived of the benefits which only their deliberations can obtain.In such cases, there is nothing to avoid the deliberate decision of a few men of regular office and knowledge of the country, and to use this privilege for the public good Meetings and exercising powers are limited in terms of time limit, so that society is exposed to temporary dangerous situations of one kind or another at any time and place.If such a thing is not delegated to a man who was originally entrusted to execute the law for the same purpose, no one else can.If, therefore, the original organic law had not laid down the times and durations of the legislature's meetings, the matter fell naturally into the hands of the executive; and the requirements of the changing circumstances of events, and to exercise this power only for the public good, not as an arbitrary power which can be used as it pleases.Who is better?Is there a fixed time for the legislature to convene, or is the monarch authorized to convene the legislature at any time, or is it better to use both?I don't want to discuss it here.I just want to point out that the executive power is not superior to the legislature by having the prerogative of calling and dissolving the legislature.

157．Things in the world are always changing, and there is no thing that stays in the same state for a long time.Thus the conditions of people, wealth, trade, power, etc., are subject to change at any moment; the prosperous great cities decay and decay, and finally become neglected backwaters, while other inaccessible places develop into rich and populous developed regions.Things, however, do not always change evenly, and certain customs and rights are often preserved by private interest, even though they have no reason to exist.It often happens, therefore, that in some governments part of the legislature is composed of representatives elected by the people, and in time this distribution becomes very unequal for the reasons for which they were originally assigned. .

When there are places where only the names of cities are left, ruins are left, where at best only sheepfolds and individual shepherds can be found, and when they elect the same number of representatives as populous and rich counties When we look at a large assembly of legislators, we see what a fallacy it is to follow a custom which has lost its meaning.The outsider will be dumbfounded at this, and everyone admits that it needs to be corrected, although most people think that it is difficult to find a way to correct it, because the organic law of the legislature is the original and highest act of society, and it is prior to all manifest actions in society. Grammar exists, but it is completely dependent on the people, so the power of the subordinates cannot be changed.Hence, so long as the government lasts, once the legislature is constituted, the obstacle to the power of conduct which the people would not enjoy in such a government as above-mentioned, is considered insurmountable.

158． Salus populi suprema lex (The welfare of the people is the supreme law), is indeed a just and fundamental maxim, which no one who follows in good faith will commit serious errors.If, therefore, the executive, which has the power to summon the legislature, does not follow the form of the distribution of representatives, but its true proportions, and fixes, not by old custom, but by true reason, the number of representatives in each locality entitled to be elected members, This right is not asserted by how the people form constituencies, but in proportion to their contribution to the public. Then this approach only restores the original real legislature and corrects the unavoidable irregularities, and cannot be considered to have created a new legislature.Since the interest and purpose of the people require fair and equal representation, whoever brings it closer to this purpose is the true friend and founder of the government, and will surely gain the approval and approval of the society.

What is called a privilege is doubtless a power conferred on the prince, who has no other power but to serve the public good, when certain and immutable laws cannot be exercised freely by unforeseen and unstable circumstances. That's all.That which is and always is a just prerogative is that which is manifestly for the good of the people, and which establishes the government upon its true foundation.Only on the assumption that sooner or later the rules governing the distribution of representatives would be changed, that those places which had previously had no right to choose representatives could enjoy a legitimate right to choose representatives, were they allowed to create new constituencies for the distribution of new representatives; may lose this right, and become irrelevant to such a right.It is the tendency of the government to ravage or oppress the people, and to give rise to a party or part of the people to a preeminence and unequal position from the rest of the people, rather than the possibility of deterioration or decay, which injures the government. resulting changes in the status quo.Whatever is done, so long as it is believed to have been done in a just and lasting manner, and to the benefit of society and the people in general, is always justified.If the people elect their representatives in a just and truly equal manner, and these representatives fit the original constitution of the government, it must be the will and the conduct of the society which permit and require them to do so.

(End of this chapter)