Theory And Practice Of Democratic Constitutionalism Of CDSP's Members After The Victory Of The Anti-Japanese War

The China Democratic Socialist Party (CDSP) was a comparatively active force in China's political stage after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. It was formed through the merger of the former Chinese National Socialist Party(CNSP) and the overseas Chinese Democratic Constitutionalist Party(CDCP) in August 1946 at Shanghai after a longer period of time gestation and negotiations, both of which belonged to the vein of "Kang·Liang". The dual features of its creation had both positive and negative impacts on their pursuit of democratic constitutionalism.To establish the Anglo-American-style democratic constitutionalism in peace was the goal of CDSP's members. To protect the freedoms and rights of the people was the core of their doctrine, their starting point and destination too. The democracy that they advocated was the combination of the Anglo-American-style democracy and the Soviet Union's socialist democracy, but with more emphases on the former. They opposed the KMT's so-called direct democracy which had long been unworthy of the name and deemed that the representative system had met China's need in order to safeguard the people's democratic rights. With regard to the design of national institutions, they retained the shape of "Separation of Five Powers" on which the KMT insisted, however, the west separation of three powers and system of responsible government were its spirit. One of the most important manifestations was that the public legislature—the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan had considerable functions in supervision and control of executive departments—the President and the Executive Yuan, and the Judicial Yuan had great independence.In order to achieve their own goals, CDSP's members opposed to both the policy of dictatorship and civil war of KMT and CPC's violent revolutionary struggle, and tried to take the road of peace and democracy. However, under the condition of KMT and CPC using force to decide the fate and future of China, CDSP's members with the illusion of achieving peace, democracy and constitutionalism through implementation of one constitution in China, gradually supported KMT civil war from participating in the National Constituent Assembly, which means that they reached the point of no return. They became democratic vase of KMT dictatorship when had participated in the National Constitution and supported the adoption of "The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion". Ultimately, CDSP's members moved away the road of peace and democracy with the KMT's defeat, and its practice of democratic constitutionalism was frustrated.The reasons of failure of CDSP's members, not only closely related to the environment of lack peace and stability in China after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, but more importantly because their pursuit of the Anglo-American-style democratic constitutionalism was inconsistent with the conditions in China and the urgent needs of the majority of people. Nowadays, the achievement of democratic constitutionalism has become an important symbol of political modernization of a country, and summing up their experiences and lessons may still provide us with some useful reference to constitutionalism today.