Thus, in the early ROC, the constitution was mainly a tool to legitimate the aggrandizement of power by those with the force to back themselves up. Meanwhile, elected assembly members, who should have stood for the rule of law, were bought by various parties, culminating in the purchasing of the presidency by warlord Cao Kun.
民初制憲、約法淪為當權者為自己擴權的合法工具，而象徵「法統」的國會議員，則是各方收買的對象。民國史上乃有直系軍閥曹錕「賄選」一章，「豬仔議員」落下千古罵名。