VOA常速英语2020--一分钟了解美国政党（在线收听）

Since 1852, every US president has been a member of one of the country's two major political parties, the Republican party or the Democratic party. Democrats generally support higher taxes, so they can fund more government programs. Republicans generally prefer lower taxes and smaller government. These two parties tend to reflect relatively moderate political views.

自1852年以来，每一任美国总统都是美国两大主要政党的成员。美国的两个主要政党为共和党和民主党。民主党人通常支持提高税收，以便为更多的政府项目提供资金。而共和党人则普遍更倾向于减税和小政府。这两个政党倾向于反映相对温和的政治观点。

But there are several other smaller parties on the fringes,including the Libertarian, Constitution, Socialist or Green Parties. Or you can just be an independent not affiliated with any party. Third parties are not that big. But they can have a major influence on presidential elections, by taking away votes from the two major party candidates, which in some years can be a deciding factor in the race to become president.

但美国还存在几个小的边缘政党，包括自由意志党、宪法党、社会党或绿党。或者你可以成为无党派人士，不隶属于任何政党。第三方政党的规模不大。但是他们可以通过夺走两个主要政党候选人的选票，对总统选举产生重大影响，这在某些年份可能成为总统竞选的决定性因素。