The proportionality principle is used in constitutional law and administrative law worldwide. We argue that this doctrinal method is theoretically flawed and often practically not useful. Our major arguments are that, first, the proportionality principle is an ill-suited tool for legislative and administrative decision-making, because it is, in essence, an incomplete form of cost-benefit analysis, as it systematically ignores certain costs and benefits. Welfare-maximizing measures, as a result, may fail to pass the test of proportionality analysis. Second, representative of legal scholars’ efforts to theorize proportionality, the German theorist Robert Alexy’s influential Paretian formulation of the proportionality principle makes it either toothless or fatal. Alexy’s weight formula is not useful in comparing multiple means. Third, the use of the proportionality principle for constitutional review by courts may create an undesirable ex ante effect and may fall prey to its inherent loss aversion which cannot be easily avoided through re-framing.

中文翻译：

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比例原则的有限用处

比例原则在世界范围内的宪法和行政法中都有使用。我们认为，这种理论方法在理论上存在缺陷，并且通常在实践中没有用处。我们的主要论点是，首先，比例原则不适合立法和行政决策，因为它本质上是一种不完整的成本收益分析形式，因为它系统地忽略了某些成本和收益。因此，福利最大化措施可能无法通过比例分析的检验。其次，作为法律学者努力将比例理论化的代表，德国理论家罗伯特·阿列克西（Robert Alexy）对比例原则有影响的帕累托式表述使其要么无用，要么致命。Alexy 的权重公式在比较多种均值时没有用。第三，