The Origins And Basis Of Grassroots’ Autonomy In The United States

The development of American democracy is ultimately the application of the idea of checks and balances of power in the political system.Under the influence of Montesquieu’s political thought of separation of powers,the framers separated the legislative,executive and judicial powers to realize the horizontal checks and balances of the American political system.In fact,the checks and balances of the American political system are not only reflected in horizontal constraints,but vertical constraints.From a vertical point of view,the tradition of grassroots’ autonomy in the United States realizes the participation and balance of social power over state power what balanced personal and national interests,liberty and power,liberty and order.Grassroots’ autonomy has a profound and clear historical development in the United States,and has been playing an irreplaceable role in the development of American democratic politics and the shaping of political values.Thomas Jefferson said that every individual and every collective in the world has the right of autonomy,and this right is innate.The birth and growth of America is,in the final analysis,a practical road of independence and autonomy.It is the first time that human beings have designed and constructed political institutional arrangements and social governance methods in the form of grassroots’ autonomy communities through their own practice and cognition.This process helped the United States become one of the most successful capitalist liberal democracies to date,and gave modern-meaning.to the functioning of politics.The reason why the thesis takes "grassroots’ autonomy" as the research object,rather than"autonomy*,is to emphasize that the American autonomous tradition actually originated from the grass-roots.That is to say,the American autonomous tradition was formed in the autonomy practice of various settlements during the colonial period.Therefore,to truly understand the democratic system in the United States,we must first begin by understanding the grassroots’autonomy of the United States.So to study the basis of grassroots’ autonomy in the United States,we need to explore how grassroots’ autonomy came into being in the United States,trace back to the township life of the colonists during the colonial period,and analyze how the township life at that time unfolded and developed.By summarizing and reviewing this historical development,we can see the autonomous growth process of the colony’s economy,society,and culture at that time,as well as the development track of autonomy in the New World.The agricultural development model and land acquisition method at that time greatly liberated the social and political obligations of land renters to landowners,and the relationship between the two was an economic contractual relationship rather than a political dependence on the European continent.This economic contractual relationship can directly affect the political attitudes and political values of the colonists,which is directly reflected in the emphasis on individual rights,especially the maintenance of the right to autonomy.At the same time,this economic contractual relationship also contributed to the formation of the contract culture in the North American colonies.The most important influence of contract culture on the colonies was to shape the colony’s social way of thinking.This way of thinking made the colonists pay more attention to individual rights and social equality,which was also the ideological basis for the colonists to strive for independence and autonomy.Since the colonial period,autonomy has been the way and means by which immigrants deal with grassroots’ affairs.During the struggle with Britain,the colonists gradually realized that autonomy was their inalienable personal right and an important way to safeguard their personal interests,so the way of life of autonomy became a kind of value appeal.With the promulgation of the "Constitution of the United States",grassroots’ autonomy has been transformed into an institutional arrangement in the United States,and it has become the main means of safeguarding individual rights and restricting the power of the state.Since the establishment of the first colony in British North America in 1607,after more than four centuries of autonomy practice,grassroots’ autonomy has become an important cornerstone for the United States to restrict state power and protect the rights of citizens.Grassroots’ autonomy in the United States originated from the way of life of immigrants who initially ruled.The determination of this way of life can be traced back to the "Mayflower Convention".On the basis of the autonomy practice,the basic social appearance of the early colonies was gradually formed.The North American colonies at this time was very close to the natural state described by Locke,and everyone is completely equal and free and enjoys natural individual rights.At the same time the natural state is a state of non-laissez-faire rationality.The rule that people followed is to preserve themselves and to preserve others as much as possible.That is to say,autonomy is the rule of the natural state.But in the natural state the force of natural law is fragile.The law of the jungle is obviously not suitable for human society.Therefore,when the colony developed to a certain level,the natural state was easily out of balance,thereby depriving the protection of individual rights.So people will eventually give up the natural state and choose to enter the social state.At this stage,colonies were gradually established,and the social structure was initially formed.It is very characteristic that the social structure of colonial society is an olive-shaped structure with a large middle and two small ends.Due to the ambiguity of the hierarchy,the establishment of private ownership of land,and the existence of indentured slaves,the mobility between various classes was more frequent than in other countries during the same period.This social structure is the basis for the development of the entire American society after the entire North American colonies and even after independence.As the main force of the society,the demands of the middle class almost represent the demands of the entire colony.With the expansion and development of the colonies,economic autonomy,social autonomy and cultural autonomy gradually formed.The power relations inherent in the colonies were no longer suitable for North American society,and colonial rule had become a shackle restricting the further development of the colony.At the same time,public power in the North American colonies began to alienate.The intensified British colonial rule over the colonies directly broke the autonomy order that the colonists had been accustomed to and recognized.So they wanted to break away from British colonial rule and reached a consensus on independence and autonomy.The colonies at that time needed a new public power to maintain social order and protect individual rights.Concerned about the alienation of public power,the founders limited the power of the Confederate Congress to the greatest extent possible after the Revolutionary War.However,the limitation broken the balance of power and caused public power losing its original purpose and meaning.So through the Constitutional Convention,the framers redesigned the power of the state again.They wanted to establish a system of separation of powers by means of a contract,so as to achieve a state of checks and balances of power.This was the first attempt by the United States to use social power to restrict the idea of public power,and it also convinced Americans that autonomy was their inalienable right.But the contractual relationship has obvious flaws,because power is expansive and corrosive.Once public power ignores the contract,public power will eventually become alienated and infringe on individual rights.Therefore,it is impractical to achieve the balance of power and freedom only through the theory of separation of powers.So the Americans adopted the "Constitution of the United States" to determine the principle of popular sovereignty.The people have the right to change or abolish the old government and form a new government.At the same time the framers replaced the Confederation with Federalism so as to ensure that the constraints on public power are effective.The promulgation of the "Constitution of the United States" marked the beginning of the public power in the United States with the attributes of the state,and the formal formation of state power,which also solved the problem of the fragile power of the Confederate Congress in the state system.Because sovereignty is in the hands of the people,state power does not completely override individual power,so popular sovereignty is the theoretical basis for the balanced relationship between state power and individual rights,order and freedom.Grassroots’ autonomy is the basis and key to the realization of this balanced relationship.Since the first immigrants set foot on the New World of North America,the colonists have traveled across the oceans and established sporadic settlements in unfamiliar lands into the modern democratic country.From striving for and maintaining their own autonomy from the British suzerain as a British colony,to maintaining and adhering to the autonomy of the states as a member of the Confederation and Commonwealth,to the specific exploration and practice of autonomy in the sub-states,the struggle for and exercise autonomy never stops.This also confirms the important position of autonomy as a tradition in American value system.In fact,American democracy is more meaningful only if it is guided by the way of life of autonomy.Grassroots’ autonomy is the starting point of American politics,the foundation of American political development,the soil on which American democracy depends,and an important way and means to shape the public spirit of citizens and cultivate social character.In the process of grassroots’ autonomy,local government governance becomes more open and efficient,citizens’enthusiasm for participation has been stimulated,citizens’ public spirit has also been cultivated and practiced,and the degree of social democratization and the rule of law has been continuously improved.This process forms a positive interaction that enables grassroots’autonomy to continue and function healthily.However,American democracy is facing serious tests in contemporary times.With the continuous development of society,the division of labor in the society is refined,and the government is also professionalized.This is prone to abuse of authority and erosion of authority,the coercion of power by capital,and the alienation of power.These problems have seriously affected the development of American politics and society,resulting in serious social problems,such as excessive concentration of wealth,social inequality,totalitarianism and so on.These problems have increased people’s distrust of the government and seriously damaged the American tradition of autonomy and the spirit of autonomy.Therefore,in order to solve the problem of power alienation and the dilemma of grassroots’ autonomy facing the United States today,we still need to find the answer from the perspective of the origin and basis of grassroots’autonomy.