权力制衡学说最早起源于古希腊的亚里士多德。历经数世纪的发展演变,十八世纪启蒙运动时期,由法国启蒙思想家孟德斯鸠进行了全面而系统的阐述,从而形成了完整的权力制衡理论。笔者认为,任何一种理论的产生都与其历史地理环境存在着紧密的联系,是海洋文明而非农耕文明催生并发展了这一理论。权力制衡学说不仅对中国近代的康有为、孙中山等人产生了很大的影响,对近代欧美各主要资本主义国家的影响尤为深远。西方各国的政治制度基本上是按照这一理论建立起来的。权力制衡理论无疑对我国目前的政治文明建设具有积极的借鉴意义。

The theory of "Checks and Balances" can be traced back to Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers in ancient Greece.After about 2000 years' evolution, it was John Locke, a British thinker in the 17th century after the Glorious Revolution, who gave an account of the theory in three aspects.And it was Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, a French thinker in the 18th century, who perfected the division of the three powers.In my opinion, the creation of any kind of theory is based on and related to a certain historical and geographical environment.Therefore, it was ocean civilization and not agricultural civilization that resulted in the birth and development of the theory of "Checks and Balances.This theory exerted a great influence on Kang You-wei and Sun Yat-sen in modern China's history, and by far greatly influenced the major capitalist countries in the West.Generally speaking, the political systems in the western countries were established on the basis of this theory.In US's "Constitution of 1787", the state powers were divided into three parts:Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and Judicial Branch.It is worth mentioning that almost all Western countries can keep pace with the times and continuously amend their political systems so as to mitigate the social contradictions and meet the demand of their people.It is no doubt that the theory can be used for reference in China's present political reform.Nevertheless, according to China's basic state situation, we should not copy the model of the political system in the West.The correct way to China's construction of political civilization should be both under the leadership of CPC and under the guidance of scientific outlook on development, and based on the premise that China's society must be stable, the country must be unified, all nationalities in China must be united, and China's economy should remain a sustainable development.Only in this way can we forge ahead China's political reform on a right path.