VOA常速英语207--美国政府为何三权分立？（在线收听）

Certain aspects of the United States government are unique, none more so that the law of the land, the United States Constitution. Drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, it is the oldest such written document in continual use, and one that has influenced legal thinking and other constitutions around the globe.

美国政府的一些组成方面是独一无二的，其中，美国的根本大法《宪法》当属最特别的一个方面。美国《宪法》起草于1787年，1789年审批通过，它是目前仍在使用的此类文件中历史最悠久的一个，同时也对全球的法律思维和其他国家宪法的制定产生了影响。

The Constitution's preamble, or introduction, begins with the words “We the People,” indicating that although the document was written to establish a national government, the government itself was set up to serve the people, and derives its power from them.

美国宪法的序言部分以“我们合众国人民”开头，表明虽然撰写《宪法》是为了设立美国政府，但政府本身设立的目的是为了服务人民，其权力也来自于人民。

The body of the Document sets out the balance and separation of power among the three branches of the Government: the Legislative, or law-making branch that is the U.S. Congress, the Executive branch which is headed by the President, and the Judiciary, which interprets the law at every level and settles legal disputes regarding the meaning and the application of the law. The idea was that no one branch of the government would be able to gain a disproportionate amount of power.

《宪法》的主体部分陈述了美国政府三权分立的制衡机制：立法分支负责制定法律——美国国会，行政分支——总统，司法分支负责解释各个层级的法律，并处理因法律规定的含义和实施所引起的法律争议。三权分立的初衷是政府的任何分支都无法拥有过大权力。

Having just won a war to rid themselves of an authoritarian government, the Framers of the Constitution were above all careful to create a national government that would not, could not wield absolute power, but at the same time, could not be superseded by individual states.

在刚刚赢得美国独立战争的胜利并得以摆脱一个独裁政府后，美国宪法的制定者们极度谨慎，想要创建一个不会也无法行使绝对权力的国家政府，但同时这个政府的权力也不会被其各个州所代替。

So, the Constitution defines the states' relationship to the federal government, as well as the rights and responsibilities of state governments. And to ensure the document is flexible enough to stand the test of time, the framers made provisions that allowed for it to be changed, or amended, to reflect changes within society itself.

因此，美国《宪法》规定了各州与联邦政府的关系以及各州政府的权利和义务。同时，为了确保《宪法》的变通性，让其经得起时间的考验，制定者还在宪法中规定允许宪法发生改变、修订、反映社会的变化。

Ironically, this helped the Constitution to overcome its first major hurdle—ratification by the thirteen states that made up the United States of the time.

出乎意料的是，这一点反而帮助《宪法》攻克了第一个主要障碍——当时所属美国的13个州均通过了《宪法》。

That's because the populace, which had just freed itself from shackles imposed on it by one government, was loath to agree to empowering another such body. Many saw a strong central government as a threat to individual rights. So, to obtain ratification in several vacillating states, ten Amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were added.

这是因为刚从一个政府的桎梏中解放出来的普通百姓不愿意再委身于再将权力交给这样的政府。很多人认为，中央政府的强大会威胁到个人权利。于是，为了让几个犹豫不决的州批准《宪法》的通过，又添加了《权利法案》，又称《人权法案》。

In the words of James Madison, who is considered to be the Father of the Constitution, “The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.”

美国宪法之父詹姆斯麦迪逊(James Madison)说过，“人民是唯一合法的权力来源，正是有了人民，才有了《宪法》，而有了宪法，才有了三权制衡的机制。”