经济学人:美国民主的固有偏向(3)

 Some may ask why Democrats¹ do not return to positions that appeal to rural voters. 有些人可能会问，为什么民主党不去吸引农村选民。

Recall how Mr Obama won the presidency² opposing gay marriage 回想一下，奥巴马是如何在反对同性结婚的情况下还赢得总统大选，

and Bill Clinton built a coalition³ in the centre-ground. 而比尔·克林顿又如何以中立立场建立起联合政府。

But rancorous political disputes—over guns, abortion⁴ and climate change— 但充满敌意的政治争端——控枪、堕胎、气候变化——

split so neatly⁵ along urban-rural lines that parties and voters increasingly sort themselves into urban-rural tribes. 却齐整地将城市和农村割裂开来，以至于越来越多的党派和选民自动将自己归于城市或农村阵营。

Gerrymandering and party primaries reward extremists, and ensure that, once elected, they seldom need fear for their jobs. “杰利蝾螈”（专为某方选举利益设计的选区划分方式）和党内初选都鼓励极端主义者，并且确保一旦当选，就很少需要为工作忧心。

The incentives⁶ to take extreme positions are very powerful. 采取极端立场的动机是非常强的。

Bitter partisanship⁷, ineffective federal government and electoral bias⁸ poison politics and are hard to fix. 激烈的党派之争、低效的联邦政府和选举偏向性毒害了政治，而且很难修复。

Changing the constitution is hard—and rightly so. 修改宪法很困难——也理当如此。

Yet the voting system for Congress is easier to reform than most people realise, 然而，改革投票制度比大多数人想的要更容易，

because the constitution does not stipulate⁹ what it should be. Congress last voted to change the rules in 1967. 因为宪法没有规定投票制度应该是什么样的。国会上一次投票修改规则是在1967年。

The aim should be to give office-seekers a reason to build bridges with opponents rather than torch them. 这样做的目的应该是给参选者一个与反对者建立联系的理由，而不是全盘推翻。

If partisanship declined as a result, so would pressure on voters to stick to their tribe. 如果党派偏向因此而减少，那么选民各执一派站队的压力也同样会减少。

That could make both parties competitive in rural and urban areas again, helping¹⁰ to restore majority rule. 这样会让两方党派再次在农村和城市地区竞争，从而帮助恢复多数决定原则。

One option, adopted in Maine this year and already proposed in a bill in Congress for use nationwide, 缅因州今年采用的一种选择，已经在国会法案中提出以便在全国范围内采纳，

is "ranked-choice voting" (RCV), in which voters list candidates in order of preference. 这就是“排序复选制”（RCV），这个规则规定选民按照喜好列出候选人。

After a first count, the candidate with the least support is eliminated, 在第一轮计票后，获得支持最少的候选人遭到淘汰，

and his or her ballots¹¹ are reallocated to those voters'second choice. 而其所获选票将重新分配给投票给他/她的选民的第二选择。

This continues until someone has a majority. 如此循环，直到一位候选人得到最多选票。

Candidates need second- and third-choice votes from their rivals'supporters, 候选人需从他们的竞争对手那里争取第二轮和第三轮的投票，

so they look for common ground with their opponents. 因此候选人会和竞争对手找共同点。

Another option is multi-member districts, which were once commonplace and still exist in the Senate. 另一个选择是复数选区制，这是曾一度流行、现仍存参议院的制度。

Because they aggregate¹² groups of voters, they make gerrymandering ineffective. 因为选民人数众多，所以“杰利蝾螈”的策略失效。

Voting reform is not the whole answer to partisanship and built-in bias, but it would help. 改革投票制不会完全改变党派偏见与其内在偏向性，但会起到一定作用。

It is hard, but not outlandish. 尽管改革步履维艰，但并非天方夜谭。

To maintain the trust of all Americans, the world's oldest constitutional democracy needs to reform itself. 为保有所有美国人的信任，世界上最古老的宪政民主体制需自我革新。

 

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

5 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

6 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

8 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

9 stipulate   

vt.规定，（作为条件）讲定，保证

参考例句：

• International rules stipulate the number of foreign entrants.国际规则规定了外国参赛者的人数。
• Some manufacturers stipulate the price at which their goods are to be sold.有些制造商规定出售他们生产的商品的价格。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。