Are Substantive Limitations on Constitutional Amendments possible?On the Constitutional System in the Thermidor-Speechs of Sieyés in 1795 and the Modification of His Own Theory of Pouvoir Constituant
Author: Shang-ju Yang
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
This article focuses on two speeches that Sieyès held in Thermidor 1795, aiming to represent the transition of his thought after the Jacobin dictatorship. At that time, to impose a limit to the legislature and to avoid the concentration of powers, Sieyès projected two specific institutions in his constitutional draft, a separation-of-powers system with the principle of “concours” and the “Jury constitutionnaire”. Furthermore, despite the fact that his thinking later tended to become more moderate, this article also points out that only procedural limits, but not the theory of limitations on constitutional amendments, was derived from Sieyès’ later thought. This was mainly because pouvoir constituant and pouvoir constitué were still regarded as equal in rank in his argumentation. The theory of limitations on constitutional amendments arose only after Schmitt reinterpreted Sieyès’ concept of pouvoir constituant.