According to a dominant narrative, the concept of popular sovereignty was joined to the notion of public opinion during the French Revolution to form the blueprint of a liberal constitutional state. This article shows how, after the Revolution, Benjamin Constant, who is now recognized as a founding figure of “liberalism,” used public opinion as a substitute for popular sovereignty to theorize political legitimacy and constitution making. I show why and when Constant discussed popular sovereignty, namely to dismiss it as an unhelpful and dangerous fiction in answer to factions invoking the concept to revolutionize the political order, or rulers such as Napoleon using it to claim absolute power. In parallel, I explain how Constant designed his alternative, opinion-based theory of legitimacy in the 1790s, before pragmatically adapting it over the course of his career as political regimes changed in France. Constant's substitution of public opinion for popular sovereignty, I contend, reveals distinct views on what makes a political regime legitimate and the meaning of constitutional changes. I conclude with a discussion of how Constant's views, thus interpreted, throw light on debates about sovereignty and public opinion in modern political thought.

中文翻译：

---

“我否认的人民主权”：本杰明·康斯坦特谈舆论、政治合法性和宪法制定

根据主流叙述，在法国大革命期间，人民主权的概念与公众舆论的概念相结合，形成了自由宪政国家的蓝图。本文展示了革命后，现在被公认为“自由主义”奠基人的本杰明·康斯坦斯如何利用公众舆论代替人民主权来理论化政治合法性和宪法制定。我展示了康斯坦斯为何以及何时讨论人民主权，即将其视为无益和危险的虚构，以回应援引这一概念来彻底改变政治秩序的派系，或拿破仑等统治者使用它来获得绝对权力。同时，我解释了康斯坦特是如何在 1790 年代设计他的另类、基于意见的合法性理论的，在他的职业生涯中随着法国政治制度的变化而务实地调整它之前。我认为，康斯坦丁用公众舆论代替人民主权，揭示了关于什么使政治制度合法以及宪法变革的意义的不同观点。最后，我讨论了康斯坦斯的观点如何被解释为现代政治思想中关于主权和公众舆论的辩论。