手机APP下载

您现在的位置: 首页 > 英语听力 > 英语视频听力 > 美国政治速成小课堂 > 正文

第40课:政治党派

来源:可可英语 编辑:Magi   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

Hi, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics and today we're gonna talk about parties.

大家好,我是克雷格,这里是政府与政治速成班,今天我们谈谈政党。
Woo! Yeah! No, not those kind of parties.
哇!是啊!不,不是那种聚会。
We're talking about political parties, which can be a lot less fun.
我们谈论的是政党,这可能没有那么有趣。
So, today we're talking about why we have political parties and the role of parties in American politics.
所以,今天我们要讨论为什么我们有政党以及政党在美国政治中的作用。
But before we dive into the pool - some would say a cesspool - that is political parties, let's have a definition.
但是,在我们跳进游泳池之前,有些人会说这是一个污水坑,那就是政党,让我们先来看看定义。
Political party: a team of politicians, activists and voters whose goal is to win control of government.
政党:一个由政治家、活动家和选民组成的团队,他们的目标是赢得对政府的控制。
So kind of an important point: the goal of a party is to control government
所以有一点很重要:一个政党的目标是控制政府,
and in the U.S. that means electing people who agree with and usually are members of the party.
而在美国,这意味着选举那些同意并通常是政党成员的人。
So above everything else, parties exist to win elections.
因此,政党的存在首先是为了赢得选举。
Parties don't mainly focus on influencing policies, although particular policies are often associated with particular parties.
虽然特定的政策常常与特定的政党相关联,但政党并不主要关注对政策的影响。
Influencing elected officials is mainly the job of interest groups, who we'll talk about soon.
影响民选官员主要是利益集团的工作,我们很快就会讲到。
For now, let's keep in mind that political parties and interest groups are not the same thing.
现在,让我们记住,政党和利益集团不是一回事。
So let's look at three reasons why we have political parties.
让我们来看看为什么我们有政党的三个原因。
One: I dunno. Two: I dunno. Three: I dunno.
一:我不晓得。二:我不晓得。三:我不晓得。
I do know, I'll tell you in a second.
我知道,我马上就告诉你。
First, we create political parties to facilitate collective action in the electoral process.
首先,我们创建政党,以促进选举过程中的集体行动。
Given that parties exist to win elections, this is probably the main reason we have them.
鉴于政党的存在是为了赢得选举,这可能是我们拥有政党的主要原因。
But what does facilitate collective action in the electoral process mean exactly?
但是,在选举过程中促进集体行动究竟意味着什么?
Basically, it means that parties make it easier for voters to form groups that will vote in certain ways.
基本上,这意味着政党使选民更容易形成以特定方式投票的团体。
Here's an example, albeit one that overgeneralizes a little bit.
这里有一个例子,虽然有点泛化了。
Just come on, just go with it.
来吧,随它去。
In general, republican candidates support policies that are more friendly to business,
总的来说,共和党候选人支持对企业更友好的政策,
so if you're a businessman, you know that affiliating yourself with the republican party is probably going to benefit you.
所以如果你是一名商人,你知道加入共和党可能会让你受益。
The second reason given for forming political parties is that they facilitate policy making.
组建政党的第二个理由是,它们有利于政策的制定。
This reasoning applies to elected members who being to political parties, not to voters.
这种理由适用于政党成员,而不适用于选民。
So membership in a party allows politicians to work together.
因此,政党的成员资格使政治家们能够合作。
It's easier for democrats to form alliances with other democrats and sometimes these alliances have the added benefit of strengthening the party.
对民主党人来说,与其他民主党人结成联盟更为容易,有时这些联盟还能增强民主党的实力。
Party affiliation can help legislators from different places work together.
党派关系可以帮助来自不同地方的立法者一起工作。
For example, common republicanness should make it easier for a republican from rural Kansas to work with another republican from suburban Florida.
例如,共同的共和制度应该使来自堪萨斯州农村的共和党人更容易与来自佛罗里达州郊区的共和党人合作。
Sometimes though, party ideology can prevent even members of the same party from working together as happened in 2008 when republicans couldn't agree on whether the government should bail out struggling banks.
不过,有时候,党派意识形态甚至会阻止同一党派的成员合作,就像2008年发生的那样,当时共和党人在政府是否应该救助陷入困境的银行问题上未能达成一致。
A third, and I must say not altogether convincing reason why we have political parties is to deal with the problem of politicians' ambition.
第三,我必须说,我们之所以有政党,并不完全是为了解决政客野心的问题。
According to this idea, parties provide a structure, maybe even a career ladder for politicians so that they're not always acting in their own self interest.
根据这个观点,政党为政治家提供了一个结构,甚至是一个职业阶梯,这样他们就不会总是为了自己的利益而行动。
The fact that the party provides different leadership possibilities and some sense of discipline prevents ambitious politicians with largely similar views from competing against each other,
事实上,该党提供了不同的领导可能性,并具有一定的纪律性,这使得观点大体相似的雄心勃勃的政客们无法相互竞争,
like say 16 candidates running for president all in the same party.
比如16名候选人都在同一个政党竞选总统。
Just wouldn't happen. Ever.
就不会发生。永远。
So that's why political parties exist, but what do they do?
这就是政党存在的原因,但它们是做什么的呢?
Well, they have five main functions in the U.S. and I'll leave it up to you to decide which - if any - is the most important.
嗯,他们在美国有五个主要的功能,如果有的话,我让你来决定哪个是最重要的。
Eagle doesn't get to decide.
老鹰不能做决定。
Eagle doesn't get to decide anything.
老鹰不能决定任何事情。
So here's the list: 1.Recruit candidates;
功能有:1.招募候选人;
2.Nominate candidates;
2.提名候选人;
3.Get out the vote;
3. 动员投票
4.Facilitate electoral choice;
4.促进选举选择;
5.Influence national government.
5.影响国家政府。
The first thing that parties have to do if they want to win elections is find candidates.
政党要想赢得选举,首先要做的就是找到候选人。
This is a two-step process involving recruiting and nominating.
这是一个包括招聘和提名两步的过程。
We've already mentioned that in order to be a good candidate for office, you generally have to have an unblemished personal record - like me - or at least be really good at heartfelt apologies.
我们已经提到,为了成为一名优秀的总统候选人,你通常必须有一个完美的个人记录——就像我一样——或者至少擅长真诚地道歉。
I don't have an unblemished record and I'm very sorry about that.
我没有完美的记录,对此我感到非常抱歉。
Also, you need the ability to raise money.
此外,你还需要筹集资金的能力。
Of course, in order to avoid any problems with campaign financing, it's helpful to have money yourself,
当然,为了避免竞选资金方面的任何问题,自己有钱是有帮助的,
but why spend your own money if you can convince people to give money to your campaign?
但是如果你能说服人们为你的竞选捐款,为什么还要自己花钱呢?
Maybe print out some hats.
也许打印一些帽子。
Merch works, merch helps raise money.
美国默克制药公司起作用了,或许会帮助筹集资金。
There are lots of people who want to run for office, although there's some debate about whether we're really getting the best candidates.
有很多人想竞选公职,尽管我们是否真的找到了最好的候选人还存在一些争论。
The pay isn't great and neither is the prestige anymore, and then there's the scrutiny that a run for office puts you and your family through.
薪水不高,声望也不高,而且竞选公职会让你和你的家人受到审视。
Parties play an important role in sifting through all the people who want to run and picking those who have the best chance of winning.
政党在筛选所有想参加竞选的人以及挑选最有可能获胜的人方面发挥着重要作用。
Nomination is the process through which a potential candidate is actually chosen to represent a particular party in an election.
提名是候选人在选举中实际代表某一特定政党的过程。
When we talk about nominations in the US, we're mostly talking about the presidency because that's the only office that goes through the formal nomination process.
当我们在美国谈论提名时,我们主要谈论的是总统职位,因为这是唯一经过正式提名程序的职位。
But technically congressman and senators are nominated by their parties to run as well.
但从技术上讲,国会议员和参议员也是由各自党派提名参加竞选的。
There are three ways that a candidate for president can be nominated.
总统候选人有三种提名方式。
In the old days, presidential candidates were nominated at a convention or caucus, which are gatherings of party members governed by rules.
在过去,总统候选人是在党代会或党团会议上提名的,党代会是由受规则约束的党员举行的聚会。
Conventions still occur every four years but they're largely ceremonial these days because presidential candidates are actually nominated during the primaries.
全国代表大会仍然每四年举行一次,但现在基本上都是仪式性的,因为总统候选人实际上是在初选期间提名的。

40.jpg

Let's go to the Thought Bubble.

让我们进入思想泡泡。
Primary elections are held to choose candidates who will then run in the later general election.
举行初选是为了选出候选人,然后参加随后的大选。
Political parties decide when and how primaries will be held and who the candidates will be.
政党决定初选的时间、方式以及候选人
These are the elections that pit democrat against democrat and republican against republican to see who will face off in November.
这些选举是民主党和民主党、共和党和共和党之间的较量,看谁将在11月对决。
Primaries can either be open or closed.
初选可以是开放的,也可以是关闭的。
Most states have closed primaries, which means that only registered voters of a particular party can vote in that election.
大多数州的初选都是封闭式的,这意味着只有某个特定政党的注册选民才能在选举中投票。
So, in a state with closed primaries, like New York, only democrats can vote in the democratic primary.
因此,在纽约州这样一个初选封闭的州,只有民主党人才能在民主党初选中投票。
And since in many districts one party is overwhelmingly dominant, the primary winner is very likely to win the general election too.
由于在许多地区,一个政党占绝对优势,初选的获胜者也很有可能赢得大选。
In states with open primaries, members of any party can vote in the primary, which sounds great because it encourages more participation but it also opens up opportunities for mischief.
在实行公开初选的州,任何政党的成员都可以在初选中投票,这听起来很棒,因为这鼓励了更多人参与,但也为恶作剧提供了机会。
For example, if there's a strong republican candidate up against a weak republican candidate in a state with open primaries, democrats can turn up and vote for the weak republican in the hopes that if he wins he will have less of a chance in the general election running against a democrat.
例如,如果有一个强大的共和党候选人与弱张开初选,共和党候选人在一个州的民主党人可以打开并投票给共和党疲软的希望,如果他赢了,他将很少有机会对民主党在大选中运行。
Sneaky. In presidential elections, the winner of a primary election will be assigned a certain number of party delegates.
卑鄙的。在总统选举中,初选的获胜者将被分配一定数量的党代表。
Delegates are non-elected party members who actually nominate the candidates at the convention.
代表是在大会上提名候选人的非选举产生的党员。
The delegates are usually pledged to vote for the candidate who won the primary in their state, at least on the first ballot, and majority rules in nominating.
代表们通常承诺,至少在第一次投票中,他们会把票投给在本州初选中获胜的候选人,并在提名时遵循多数原则。
This is why we see so much election coverage of primaries and why some states like New Hampshire try so hard to have their primaries early.
这就是为什么我们看到如此多的初选选举报道,以及为什么像新罕布什尔这样的州如此努力地提前举行初选。
Once a candidate has sewn up enough delegates, he or she becomes the nominee, and the convention serves largely as a formality.
一旦一位候选人获得了足够的代表,他或她就会成为候选人,而大会在很大程度上只是一种形式。
Although the primary system is more democratic than the convention, it still has problems.
虽然初选制度比党代会更加民主,但仍然存在一些问题。
Even though there's more opportunity for participation, that doesn't mean people actually participate.
尽管有更多的参与机会,但这并不意味着人们真正参与其中。
In fact, only about 25% of those eligible to vote in primary elections actually do, and these tend to be the more ideologically extreme members of the parties.
事实上,只有大约25%的有资格在初选中投票的人会这样做,而这些人往往是政党中意识形态更为极端的成员。
Because to them, winning elections matters most.
因为对他们来说,赢得选举是最重要的。
So, if only partisan voters show up, we tend to get uber-partisan candidates.
所以,如果只有党派选民出现,我们倾向于得到超级党派候选人。
And because they have to win bruising primaries before they even get to the general election, these candidates tend to be aggressive and uncompromising.
而且,由于他们必须在大选前赢得激烈的初选,这些候选人往往咄咄逼人,毫不妥协。
That's good when you're competing in an election but not so good when you're trying to work with other people to craft policies or, in very rare cases, legislation.
当你在选举中竞争时,这很好,但当你试图与他人合作制定政策或在极少数情况下,立法时就不那么好了。
This is why many people think that primaries add to political polarization in the US.
这就是为什么许多人认为初选加剧了美国的政治两极分化。
Thanks, Thought Bubble - you got my vote.
谢谢你,思想泡泡-你得到了我的选票。
There's a third way that a person can become a candidate, but it's a long and dangerous path.
还有第三种方式可以让一个人成为候选人,但这是一条漫长而危险的道路。
Hey, Stan, zoom the camera in as I say that.
斯坦,照我说的把镜头放大。
It's a long and dangerous path.
这是一条漫长而危险的道路。
A person can run as an independent and if they get enough signatures on a petition, they can become a candidate.
一个人可以作为独立候选人参选,如果他们在请愿书上得到足够的签名,他们就可以成为候选人。
You're more likely to see this in congressional races but even then it's not super common.
你更有可能在国会选举中看到这种情况,但即使这样也不是很常见。
It's also really not that long and dangerous as we implied in that last shot.
它也没有我们在最后一个镜头中暗示的那么长和危险。
The third thing that parties do is mobilize voters, also known as getting out the vote.
政党要做的第三件事是动员选民,也就是争取选票。
This is pretty obvious because you can't elect a candidate if you don't get people out to vote for them - duh!
这是很明显的,因为如果你不让人们投票给你的候选人,你就不能选举他们。
Parties get out the vote through direct mail, email and advertisements, and they can also help with voter registration drives.
政党通过直接邮寄、电子邮件和广告来获得选票,他们还可以帮助选民登记。
The main thing the party does in terms of getting out the vote is coordinate volunteers to help encourage voting.
该党在争取选票方面所做的主要工作是协调志愿者,帮助鼓励投票。
If you want to help on a campaign or with an election effort, your local party office is a good place to start.
如果你想在竞选或竞选活动中提供帮助,当地的政党办公室是一个很好的起点。
Another good place to start is getting out of bed.
另一个好的开始是起床。
Getting out the bed is a campaign we should have.
起床是我们应该做的一项运动。
Parties also help to facilitate electoral choice.
政党也有助于促进选举选择。
Basically, a political party acts sort of like a brand.
基本上,一个政党的行为有点像一个品牌。
So, knowing which party a candidate represents acts as a kind of shorthand for voters in the same way that seeing, say, a Netflix logo lets you know that you're about to chill.
所以,知道一个候选人代表哪个政党,就像看到Netflix的标志一样,可以让你知道自己要冷静下来了。
I'm not going to go into what each party stands for right now
我现在不打算深入讨论每个党派的立场
but let's just say that knowing that a candidate is a republican or a democrat allows you to figure out pretty much what they stand for even if you don't know anything about the candidate.
但是我们假设,知道一个候选人是共和党人或民主党人,你就能知道他们代表什么,即使你对这个候选人一无所知。
Political parties even help non-partisan voters by narrowing down political choices and making things easier.
政党甚至帮助无党派选民缩小政治选择范围,让事情变得更容易。
If you want to, you can choose a candidate by answering two relatively simple questions: which party better represents my interests and values, and which candidate belongs to that party?
如果你愿意,你可以通过回答两个相对简单的问题来选择一个候选人:哪个政党更能代表我的利益和价值观,哪个候选人属于那个政党?
Finally, believe it or not, political parties have a role in the way the national government actually works.
最后,信不信由你,政党在国家政府的实际运作中发挥着作用。
Party membership is really important in Congress.
党员在国会中非常重要。
Parties determine who the Speaker is since he or she always comes from the majority party and is chosen by a vote of members of that party.
政党决定议长是谁,因为议长总是来自多数党,由多数党成员投票选出。
Parties also determine the composition of the committees and party leaders assign members to those committees.
各党派还决定各委员会的组成,由党的领导人选派委员。
And parties help determine who the chairs of the committees are and they, along with the Speaker and the majority leader in the Senate, largely shape Congress' agenda.
政党帮助确定委员会的主席是谁,他们以及议长和参议院多数党领袖在很大程度上决定了国会的议程。
The president and his party have a reciprocal relationship - that's the best kind of relationship and the most fun to say.
总统和他的派对有一种互惠的关系——这是最好的关系,也是最有趣的。
Reciprocal. The president is the leader of his party and his personal character and popularity helps to shape the party's brand - for better or worse - and can be used to raise money.
倒数。总统是他所在政党的领导人,他的个人性格和受欢迎程度有助于塑造该党的品牌——无论好坏——并可用于筹集资金。
On the other side, the party throws its support behind the president's initiatives and helps to elect candidates that support him in Congress.
另一方面,共和党支持总统的倡议,并帮助选举支持他的国会候选人。
So, at their most basic level, parties exist to elect political candidates and thus gain control of the government.
因此,在最基本的层面上,政党的存在是为了选举政治候选人,从而获得对政府的控制权。
In order for them to do this well, they need to provide voters with clear electoral preferences and encourage them to act on those preferences.
为了做好这一点,他们需要向选民提供明确的选举偏好,并鼓励他们根据这些偏好采取行动。
In a way, this branding function - helping voters to choose between Candidate A and Candidate B - is what parties are all about.
在某种程度上,这个品牌功能——帮助选民在候选人a和候选人B之间做出选择——就是政党的全部意义所在。
But you're free to disagree and if you do, go form your own party and do whatever you want.
但你可以自由地提出不同意见,如果你这样做了,那就组建自己的政党,做任何你想做的事。
It's a party! Woo!
这是一个聚会!哇!
Thanks for watching, see you next time.
谢谢收看,下次再见。
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
政府与政治速成班是与PBS数字工作室联合制作的。
Support for Crash Course US Government comes from Voqal.
对美国政府速成班的支持来自Voqal。
Voqal supports non-profits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持使用技术和媒体促进社会公平的非营利组织。
Learn more about their mission and initiatives at voqal.org.
更多关于他们的使命和倡议,请访问voqal.org。
Crash Course is made with the help of all these hard-line partiers.
速成班是在所有这些强硬派的帮助下进行的。
Thanks for watching.
感谢观看。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
voter ['vəutə]

想一想再看

n. 投票人,选举人

 
convince [kən'vins]

想一想再看

vt. 使确信,使信服,说服

联想记忆
debate [di'beit]

想一想再看

n. 辩论,讨论
vt. 争论,思考

联想记忆
disagree [.disə'gri:]

想一想再看

v. 不一致,有分歧,不适应,不适宜

联想记忆
avoid [ə'vɔid]

想一想再看

vt. 避免,逃避

联想记忆
agenda [ə'dʒendə]

想一想再看

n. 议事日程

联想记忆
control [kən'trəul]

想一想再看

n. 克制,控制,管制,操作装置
vt. 控制

 
association [ə.səusi'eiʃən]

想一想再看

n. 联合,结合,交往,协会,社团,联想

联想记忆
definition [.defi'niʃən]

想一想再看

n. 定义,阐释,清晰度

联想记忆
potential [pə'tenʃəl]

想一想再看

adj. 可能的,潜在的
n. 潜力,潜能

 

    阅读本文的人还阅读了:
  • 第38课:选民如何投票 2019-05-30
  • 第39课:政治竞选 2019-05-31
  • 第41课:政党制度 2019-06-14
  • 第42课:利益集团 2019-06-21
  • 第43课:利益集团的形成 2019-06-25
  • 发布评论我来说2句

      最新文章

      可可英语官方微信(微信号:ikekenet)

      每天向大家推送短小精悍的英语学习资料.

      添加方式1.扫描上方可可官方微信二维码。
      添加方式2.搜索微信号ikekenet添加即可。