Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2014

 

The Status and Powers of the Legislative Yuan under the Republican Government

(Abstract)

 

Nie Xin

 

In 1928, the Nationalist government tried to implement a system of Five Yuan or departments, including the Legislative Yuan. The orientation of the Legislative Yuan originated directly from Dr Sun Yat-Sen's thinking on the constitution and was one of the contradictions at the heart of the Five-Power Constitution. Sun Yat-Sen had not completely rejected the parliamentary role of the Legislative Yuan, nor did its members completely "lose their identities as representatives of the public will" under the Nationalist government, so the Legislative Yuan remained to some extent a representative organ, with a role that tended to be reinforced during the constitutional process. It still exercised core parliament powers in a relatively independent way: legislative power, power to discuss and pass the draft Constitution, budgetary power, power to conduct inquiries, and power of assent to important issues. Compared with the classic parliaments of Europe and America, however, the Legislative Yuan cannot be seen as a complete or the only representative organ, for the exercise of its powers was restricted by other governmental bodies. In addition to the Legislative Yuan, the National Assembly and the Control Yuan had the nature of a parliament in terms of their representativeness and their powers.