정치·사회적 관점에서 본 헌정 60년 -개헌의 정치와 '헌정공학'의 타당성-
Politics of Constitutional Revision and the Validity of Constitutional Engineering
차동욱(연세대학교)
34호, 55~82쪽
초록
Currently, academic and practical interests in the Korean Constitution are increasing in the entire Korean society. This phenomenon was triggered by the public concern that the representative system of South Korea has shown its incapability to solve diverse economic and social problems in Korean society particularly during the process of democratic consolidation. Now the Korean public are showing a tendency to turn their eyes upon the written Constitution hoping that the Constitution itself exercise its supreme power to solve those problems. The Korean public started considering the written constitution as an effective means for a social engineering. In fact, sixty years of Korean constitutional history has been the history of constitutional engineering. The first Korean Constitution was the beginning of the social engineering that implanted a new western political, economic, and social system in an outdated, premodern society of then-South Korea. And most of following constitutional revisions were ways of political engineering to craft the legitimacy for past authoritarian regimes and secure the efficiency for the government. Reflecting the sixty-year experience of Korean constitutional politics, this essay points out that current discourse on another constitutional revision requires great deliberation on institutional settings to conciliate pluralistic discords and mediate in the middle of the diverse voices and colliding claims. And this essay also warns that, if existing powerful interest groups in Korean society simply compete for prioritizing their own special interests by carving them in the written constitution as constitutionally protected rights, the selfishness would be very likely to lead a serious constitutional crisis. Finally, this essay suggests that a new idea of constitutional engineering will play a positive role in establishing an upgraded constitutional system in South Korean politics only if the on-going constitutional discourse is combined with endeavors to pursue the public good.
Abstract
Currently, academic and practical interests in the Korean Constitution are increasing in the entire Korean society. This phenomenon was triggered by the public concern that the representative system of South Korea has shown its incapability to solve diverse economic and social problems in Korean society particularly during the process of democratic consolidation. Now the Korean public are showing a tendency to turn their eyes upon the written Constitution hoping that the Constitution itself exercise its supreme power to solve those problems. The Korean public started considering the written constitution as an effective means for a social engineering. In fact, sixty years of Korean constitutional history has been the history of constitutional engineering. The first Korean Constitution was the beginning of the social engineering that implanted a new western political, economic, and social system in an outdated, premodern society of then-South Korea. And most of following constitutional revisions were ways of political engineering to craft the legitimacy for past authoritarian regimes and secure the efficiency for the government. Reflecting the sixty-year experience of Korean constitutional politics, this essay points out that current discourse on another constitutional revision requires great deliberation on institutional settings to conciliate pluralistic discords and mediate in the middle of the diverse voices and colliding claims. And this essay also warns that, if existing powerful interest groups in Korean society simply compete for prioritizing their own special interests by carving them in the written constitution as constitutionally protected rights, the selfishness would be very likely to lead a serious constitutional crisis. Finally, this essay suggests that a new idea of constitutional engineering will play a positive role in establishing an upgraded constitutional system in South Korean politics only if the on-going constitutional discourse is combined with endeavors to pursue the public good.
- 발행기관:
- 법과사회이론학회
- 분류:
- 법학