美国官制中有个国务院的长官,主管外交事务,叫“国务卿”。在近代中国,袁世凯当政时期,也曾主张设置过“国务卿”一职。袁世凯为什么要设置“国务卿”?这要从其对共和制度的态度谈起。袁世凯在清末是个封建官僚,后曾赞成立宪,其实他并不真心想实行资产阶级民主政治。辛亥革命以后中国变成共和国,他虽当上了临时大总统,但仍没有民主意识,满脑袋都是封建专 In the official system of the United States, there is a director of the State Council in charge of foreign affairs, called “Secretary of State.” In modern China, Yuan Shikai also held the post of “Secretary of State” during his tenure. Why did Yuan Shikai set up a “Secretary of State”? This should be discussed from his attitude toward the republican system. In the late Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai was a feudal bureaucrat who had favored constitutional constitution. In fact, he did not really want to practice bourgeois democratic politics. After the Revolution of 1911, China became a republic. Although he became a provisional president, he still had no democratic consciousness. His head was full of feudalism