從民主憲政體制的變革中論我國的總統課責

Abstract

所謂課責（accountability）之目的是在減低政府單位治理不當的負面影響，避免行政權力的濫用，保障公民權利並防範專制獨裁者的產生。尤其現代民主國家又被稱為法治國家，意味憲政的治理取代了君主專制的統治；所以對行政官員，特別是國家領導人的監督和課責機制實乃為重要的議題。緣此，本文首先將課責性的意義與內涵作一介紹，並由課責發展的觀點切入，探討其在民主憲政體制的運作機制與模式；其次從台灣憲政體制的變革談總統權力之消長，由於目前我國的憲政體制是偏於雙首長制，並罕見同時存在罷免、彈劾、倒閣等制度，但是對國家元首之課責效能卻十分微弱與有限，顯見制度設計有明顯之缺陷。最後從科層、法律、政治、專業等課責機制和全球治理的角度觀察，雖然目前憲政體制下的領袖課責存有若干瑕疵，但隨資訊科技和公民社會的發達，正式課責和非正式的課責將催化民主力量的扎根綿延，而藉由法律規章、傳播媒體、大眾輿論和國際社會所串起的課責網絡，不僅有助於民主課責的施行，亦能加速政治現代化的轉型，進而達成民主體制的鞏固。

The purpose of accountability is to lessen the negative effects of governmental governance, avoid the abuse of executive power, protect civil rights and prevent dictatorship. Because modern democratic nations are also regarded as the legal state, representing that constitutional governance has replaced autocratic monarchy, the supervision and accountability mechanism for executive officials, especially the national leader, is a truly important issue. Therefore, this paper first describes the meaning and content of accountability and examines the mechanism and model of accountability in a democratic constitutionalism from the perspective of the development of accountability. Then the vicissitudes of the presidential power is discussed through Taiwan’s constitutional evolution. Taiwan’s current constitutionalism leans towards the dual executive system and the systems of recall, impeachment and resignation of the cabinet uncommonly coexist, but the accountability effects on the national leader are feeble and limited. It is obvious that the design of Taiwan’s constitutional system has grave defects. Lastly, this paper concludes that based on the observation from the viewpoints of various accountability mechanisms (such as bureaucratic, legal, professional, and political accountability mechanisms) and global governance, although the leader accountability design under the current constitutional system is defective, with the advancement of information technology and civil society, professional formal accountability and informal accountability will act as a catalyst and push the democratic force to grow and spread. And the accountability network built with the mass media, law, public opinion and the international society will not only enforce the democratic accountability system but also accelerate the process of political modernization and democratic consolidation.