日本上院選舉 修憲應慎重爲之(2)

The version promulgated by the Emperor Meiji in 1889 [CHKD]created a state empowered to direct Japan’s modernisation — fusing economic, political and social power in the service of the national purpose, legitimised by an absolute monarchy.

1889年由明治天皇頒佈的憲法締造了一個帶領日本邁向現代化的國家體制——集中經濟、政治和社會力量，爲國家目標服務，而這一切的合法性來自絕對君主制。

The later document decentralised power and divested the state of its military power.

和平憲法對權力進行了分散，剝奪了國家的軍事力量。

Will a new constitution once again seek to mend the social compact? Or will leaders set their sights lower, tinkering, tweaking language or amending the 1947 blueprint of their democracy to meet today’s social needs? It is too early to tell.

新版憲法會尋求再次修改這種社會契約嗎？抑或日本領導人會降低期望值、在字面上稍作調整，或是修改1947年制定的民主藍圖以滿足當今的社會需求？現在評判還爲時過早。

The committee to revise the constitution has catalogued the changes Japan’s political parties think could improve their founding document.

修憲委員會已經列出了日本各政黨認爲可以改進該國憲制文件的修改內容。

The governing Liberal Democratic party has a draft to share, as Mr Abe pointed out after the election, a draft he says could serve as a basis for legislative discussion.

正如安倍晉三在選舉後所指出的那樣，執政的自民黨制定了自己的草案，安倍稱該草案可以作爲立法討論的基礎。

But it will take far more than the 242 legislators in the upper house — or even the roughly 700 in both houses — to determine what a new constitution might look like.

但是，制定新憲法所需要的不僅是上院242名議員的支持——即使獲得兩院近700名議員的支持也不夠。

Article 96 of the present document declares that two-thirds of all the members of each house of parliament must create a proposal for revision. After that, a national referendum must be held to gain approval.

現行憲法第96條規定，上下兩院各三分之二以上的議員必須拿出一份修訂提議。之後必須由全民公投批准修訂。

And the fact is that, while voters have created an opening for those who advocate revision, they seem deeply ambivalent about the prospect of tampering with the document that has supported their transition to democracy.

事實是，儘管選民們爲那些提倡修憲的政客創造了一個切入點，但是他們似乎對修訂曾經支持日本實現民主轉型的憲法的前景深感矛盾。

Popular sovereignty brings agency to the people; it should not be abandoned easily. All the social institutions must claim a stake in the process and all citizens must take responsibility for the outcome.

人民主權給人民帶來能動性；它不應該被輕易拋棄。所有社會機構都應該參與這一過程，所有公民都必須對結果負起責任。

Revising simply for the sake of revising will only weaken confidence in Japan’s democracy, at home and abroad.

爲了修憲而修憲，只會削弱國內外對日本民主的信心。