词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Political Rhetoric in America,Part

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: February 5, 2004

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- we continue our discussion of American political rhetoric¹.

RS: The Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University says two times as many Americans describe themselves as "conservative" than as "liberal." The Scripps Howard News Service says this finding was true for rich and poor alike.

AA: But what exactly do Americans mean by these terms, 鈥渃onservative,鈥?and 鈥渓iberal鈥? For some perspective, we asked Professor Dennis Goldford. He's chairman of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

GOLDFORD: "In the American context, those who call themselves social conservatives -- conservative Christians³, those who emphasize the importance of morality and the culture -- they are speaking that language of traditional European Conservatism. Those who call themselves nowadays conservative in an economic sense are those who believe as nineteenth century Liberals did, that government should not interfere⁴ with the operation of the market, that the market and market competition left to itself always produces optimal⁵ results.

RS: "So how will understanding these labels, how will this help our listeners who are weeding their way through the electoral process?"

GOLDFORD: "Well, so often these labels are used not to enlighten but as rhetorical clubs to hit people over the head. That's the difficulty. So you simply again have got to bear in mind the kind of arguments people make. When President Bush talked about the sanctity of marriage and strengthening institutions like families and schools and churches, again that's the language of this classical Conservative tradition. But when there's talk about getting government off the backs of entrepreneurs and consumers in the marketplace, that's the language of nineteenth century Liberalism, which is now called economic conservatism."

AA: "And twenty-first century liberalism would be what?"

GOLDFORD: "These would be people who really began in the Progressive movement in American history and politics around the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. And they were very influenced by the rise of the modern, especially the giant corporations. And their argument was, that with these new giant corporations on the playing field, they've tilted⁶ the playing field, and that government must step in to protect competition and restore competition and equality of opportunity, that the market wouldn't do it automatically, as used to be thought in the nineteenth century. That's the economic side of what we call liberal now.

"The social side of what we call liberal now is the view that government must remain neutral or agnostic regarding any kind of moral or religious orthodoxy. Government's job is simply to keep you from clubbing your neighbor over the head, and keep your neighbor from clubbing you over the head as each of you pursues your own interests and values as you see fit."

RS: "Do you have any, I guess, advice to our listeners, any signs when they see it coming they should say, 'Ah, this is what I'm listening to.' Any warning signs?"

GOLDFORD: "Well, there's been a kind of Europeanization of American political rhetoric over the past twenty-five years. You'll hear lots of talk among conservatives about 'the left,' and you'll hear talk among people who are more liberal about 'the right.' But really the left in American politics wouldn't dare go so far as to propose social programs that are accepted by the Conservative Democrat⁷ or the Christian² Democratic Union in Germany, for example.

"And the right in America usually wouldn't go so far as to propose various programs that might be seen in certain authoritarian⁸ countries and places like that. American political rhetoric takes place within a relatively⁹ narrow band that's really pretty much in the Liberal tradition of the notion of individual freedom and opportunity, with a little smattering or salting, as it were, of this older Conservative notion of the necessity of morality and culture and key institutions like family and church and schools.

"But it takes place with a much narrower band of argument than you find in many countries around the world. So in this sense there's a lot of heat in American political rhetoric in campaign, but it's over quite often less of a significant difference than one might find in other countries and their political systems around the world."

RS: Our thanks to Dennis Goldford at Drake University in Iowa for talking to us after the Iowa caucuses¹⁰ last month. By his count, the good professor had already given around one-hundred-seventy interviews in two weeks about that event.

AA: Thirty-eight states will hold caucuses or primaries during this presidential election cycle, but Iowa traditionally goes first, so it's watched closely. And that's Wordmaster. Our e-mail address is [email protected]. And we're on the Web at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

6 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网