• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.40
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• pp.77-114
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze the ideological background, legal composition, and separation of powers contained within the institutional devices of The Dao Constitution based on the basic principles of the legal system, which would be embodied in The Constitution of the Republic of Korea. The ideological background of The Dao Constitution is that of the religion, Daesoon Jinrihoe. In Daesoon Jinrihoe, it is held that the Supreme God, Sangje, determined that Mutual Contention, the ruling pattern of the Former World, ran contrary to His divine will and this endangered the world as nature and humans had also fallen into Mutual Contention. As an act of divine intervention, Sangje established Mutual Beneficence so that nature and humanity could follow Mutual Beneficence as a paradigm shift culminating in a Great Opening of the universe. Sangje, the agent behind the paradigm shift, revealed His divine will that humans transform into mutually beneficent humans. Therefore, The Dao Constitution was written to be a set of fundamental norms based on the 'rights and obligations of the members of Daesoon Jinrihoe' to accept and implement the will of Sangje as it applies to each member's mission. The legal composition of The Dao Constitution consists of the body and supplementary provisions. The text consists of general rules, moral rights and obligations, origins, and institutional devices. Institutional devices include the Central Council, the Institute of Propagation and Edition, the Institute of Religious Services, Works, Financial Management, and the Institute of Audit and Inspection. The legal composition of The Dao Constitution is similar to that of the Constitution. The difference is that while the Constitution applies a 'principle of maximum rights and minimum obligations,' The Dao Constitution stipulates more obligations than rights in order to complete the mission of the members. The principle of separation of powers is applied to the institutional devices in The Dao Constitution. In The Dao Constitution, the organizational form of the central headquarters has been divided into a 'before and after' scheme surrounding the death of Dojeon. The organizational form of the central headquarters prior to Dojeon's death was similar to a Constitutional Monarchy. After the death of Dojeon, the central headquarters' organizational form became similar to a parliamentary cabinet system. The separation of powers at central headquarters is divided among a legislative power (the Central Council), an executive power (the Institute of Religious Services), and a judicial power (the Institute of Audit and Inspection). The separation of powers within the functions of the central government first occurs between the Central Council and its employees, then between the Central Council and the Institute of Auditing and Inspection, and also between the Legislative Government and the Institute of Religious Services. Furthermore, the principle of a vertical separation of powers exists between the central headquarters and the local organization.