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Hello, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics
大家好，我是克雷格，这里是政府与政治速成班
and today we're going to talk about something almost every American has an opinion on: interest groups.
今天我们要谈论的话题几乎每个美国人都有自己的看法：利益集团。
Now if you've been watching these episodes and reading the comments you might be thinking that we've been trying to avoid the issue of money in politics and the role of special interests in the U.S. political system.
如果你一直在看这些剧集，读这些评论，你可能会想，我们一直在努力避免金钱在政治中的问题，以及特殊利益集团在美国政治体系中的角色。
We have.
我们确实在努力。
If you are one those people that wants to talk about money in politics, this episode will not disappoint you.
如果你是那种想谈论政治与的人，这一集不会让你失望。
I'm kidding, I know that some of you will still be disappointed.
我开玩笑的，我知道你们中的一些人仍然会感到失望。
But mainly because I'm still not John Green.
但主要是因为我还是不是约翰·格林。
So before we get into how interests groups influence American politics, let's define what we mean by interest groups.
在我们讨论利益集团如何影响美国政治之前，让我们先来定义一下我们所说的利益集团是什么意思。
Groups of people who put money in banks and gain interest. That's not what we mean.
把钱存入银行并获得利息的一群人。我们不是这个意思。
An interest group is an organized group of individuals that make policy-related appeals to government.
利益集团是向政府提出政策相关诉求的有组织的个人团体。
Now, interest groups don't actually have to meet in person, in fact in the case of very large interest groups it would be almost impossible to get them together in a room.
现在，利益集团实际上不需要亲自出面，事实上，在利益集团非常大的情况下，把他们聚在一个房间里几乎是不可能的。
But most interest groups have a membership and often it's the size of the membership that gives the group's political clout.
但大多数利益集团都有成员，而成员的规模往往决定了该集团的政治影响力。
Political scientists tell us that there are 2 main things that interest groups do when they interact with the government.
政治学家告诉我们，当利益集团与政府互动时，他们主要做两件事。
First, they try to shape policies, which they can do by mobilizing voters or by putting direct pressure on elected officials.
首先，他们试图制定政策，他们可以通过动员选民或对当选官员施加直接压力来做到这一点。
The second and probably more important thing that interest groups do is gather information they can provide for elected officials.
利益集团做的第二件可能也是更重要的事情是收集他们能提供给民选官员的信息。
Some would characterize this gathering of information as interest groups writing bills for elected officials to pass into laws.
一些人将这种信息收集描述为利益集团为民选官员起草法案，使之成为法律。
So interest groups are most likely to focus on a particular branch of government and I'll give you 3 guesses which one.
利益集团最可能关注政府的某一特定部门，我给你们三个猜测。
No not the supreme court even though with only 9 members it would be the most efficient way for an interest group to exert pressure.
不，不是最高法院，尽管只有9个成员，这将是利益集团施加压力的最有效方式。
Punching is most efficient way for me to exert pressure onto an eagle.
对我来说，拳击是对老鹰施加压力的最有效的方法。
And not the executive branch because if you remember, the president has lots of professional people to advise him and since he can only serve two terms, he's less susceptible to pressure that way.
不是行政部门，因为因为如果你还记得，总统有很多专业人士可以给他提供建议，因为他只能连任两届，所以他不太容易受到这样的压力。
That leaves congress, which is the answer!
那就剩下国会了，正是答案！
That's where the interest groups exert their pressure.
这就是利益集团施加压力的地方。
But wait, what about the bureaucracy?
等等，那官僚呢?
Can't bureaucrats also be the target of interest group pressure?
难道官僚就不能成为利益集团施压的对象吗?
Yes, in fact they can mainly because interest groups,
难道官僚就不能成为利益集团施压的对象吗?
especially if they're well funded, can supply information that is either too costly or too difficult for congressmen or bureaucratic agencies to get.
特别是如果他们有充足的资金，就可以提供对国会议员或官僚机构来说要么太昂贵要么太难获得的信息。
But adding the fourth group messes up the whole three guesses three branches bit I was trying to do.
但是把第四组加起来就把我想要做的三次猜测搞混了。
And guesses are fun.
猜测很有趣。
Let's go to the Thought Bubble.
让我们进入思想泡泡。
The combination of interest groups, congress, and the bureaucracy are sometimes called an “iron triangle”which sounds a lot cooler than it is.
利益集团、国会和官僚机构的组合有时被称为“铁三角”，这听起来比实际情况要酷得多。
Actually it's pretty cool, unless you're talking about the neighborhood in Queens near where the Mets play in which case my previous statement still stands.
事实上，这很酷，除非你说的是皇后区附近的大都会队比赛的地方在这种情况下，我之前的声明仍然成立。
Anyway, in a political iron triangle, not only do interest groups help out congress through contributions and support, they also provide congressmen with information.
无论如何，在一个政治铁三角中，利益集团不仅通过捐款和支持帮助国会，他们还向国会议员提供信息。
Some might say that interest groups don't just provide information, they actually write the bills that become laws.
有些人可能会说，利益集团不仅提供信息，他们实际上还制定法案，使之成为法律。
And it is true that interest groups often have lawyers who propose language that can make it into bills and laws.
的确，利益集团经常有律师提出语言建议，使之成为法案和法律。
But this is much more likely to happen on the state and local level where legislators don't have the staff resources to do the research behind bills.
但这更有可能发生在州和地方一级，因为立法者没有足够的人力资源来研究法案背后的问题。
In fact, the practice of interest groups writing bills for state legislature is depressingly common.
事实上，利益集团为州立法机构起草法案的做法非常普遍，令人沮丧。
Given that congressmen are pretty busy trying to get re-elected, it's not surprising that they will be grateful for information from interest groups.
鉴于国会议员们正忙于争取连任，他们会感谢利益集团提供的信息也就不足为奇了。
But what about bureaucracies?
但是官僚机构呢?
They're supposed to be made up of experts and they don't have to run for re-election, right?
他们应该是由专家组成的他们不需要竞选连任，对吧?
Well they are, and they don't, but information is really really costly, and often bureaucratic agencies are just not as well-funded as an interest group.
他们是由专家组成的，他们不需要竞选，但是信息是非常非常昂贵的，通常官僚机构没有像利益集团那样资金充足。
The oil industry is represented by the American Petroleum Institute as well as individual oil and gas companies.
石油工业由美国石油协会以及个别的石油和天然气公司代表。
Because it's highly regulated, the oil industry has a big interest in seeing legislation and regulations they like passed.
由于受到高度监管，石油行业有极大兴趣看到喜欢的法规通过。
But more important here is the fact that the oil and gas industry has a lot of money money money money - way more money than any particular federal agency,
但更重要的是，石油和天然气行业有很多钱，比任何一个特定的联邦机构都有钱，
so it can spend money on research and provide information that the agencies often can't.
因此，它可以在研究上花钱，并提供机构通常无法提供的信息。
Thanks Thought Bubble.
谢谢思想泡泡。
One more thing about interest groups and bureaucracies:
关于利益集团和官僚机构还有一件事：
There's a big temptation to think that wealthy interests spend their money providing campaign contributions and information to Congressmen, and this does happen.
人们很容易认为，富裕的利益集团把钱花在为国会议员提供竞选捐款和信息上，这确实发生了。
But they can often be more effective providing information to agencies and writing regulations rather than the laws.
但他们往往可以更有效地向机构提供信息，制定法规，而不是法律。
As we've mentioned before, regulations are just as important as laws and for many industries, even more so.
正如我们之前提到的，法规和法律一样重要，对许多行业来说，甚至更重要。
That's why you'll see a lot of interest group efforts spent lobbying bureaucratic agencies as well as Congress.
这就是为什么你会看到很多利益集团努力游说官僚机构和国会。
Before we get into the question of whether or not interest groups are destroying American democracy, I want to clarify two things that interest groups are not:
在讨论利益集团是否正在破坏美国民主之前，我想澄清两件利益集团没有做的事情：
First off, an interest group is not a political party.
首先，利益集团不是政党。
As you remember, political parties exist to get candidates elected.
正如你所记得的，政党的存在是为了让候选人当选。
Interest groups exist to influence the policies that those elected officials make.
利益集团的存在是为了影响那些民选官员制定的政策。
Interest groups are also not the same as political action committees or PACs.
利益集团也不同于政治行动委员会或政治行动委员会。
A PAC is an organization that collects and distributes campaign funds and information, and therefore is concerned with elections.
政治行动委员会是一个收集和分发竞选资金和信息的组织，因此与选举有关。
Interest groups can give money to PACs and they can even form their own PACs, but they aren't exactly the same thing.
利益集团可以给政治行动委员会提供资金，他们甚至可以建立自己的政治行动委员会，但它们并不完全是一回事。
Okay, so now the controversial issue with interest groups.
好了，现在是利益集团的争议问题。
Do they have too much influence?
他们有很大影响力吗?
To sort this out, I'm going to need some help from some friends, and by friends I mean clones, which aren't my friends.
为了解决这个问题，我需要一些朋友的帮助，我说的朋友是指克隆人，比喻是真正的朋友。
Let's head to the Clone Zone!
我们去克隆区吧！
Hey, here we are! Clone Zone!
嘿，我们到了！克隆区！
It's just like the regular zone except that thing's gone and there's a graphic.
它就像普通的区域，只是那个东西不见了，有一个图形。
So today, clone with the tie is going to argue that interest groups are good for American democracy and clone without the tie is going to argue that they're bad.
所以今天，戴着领带的克隆人会说利益集团对美国民主有益，而不戴领带的克隆人会说他们有害。
He also has bad fashion sense. Okay, go.
他的时尚感也很差。好的,走吧。
The main argument in favor of interest groups has to do with pluralism.
支持利益集团的主要论点与多元主义有关。
If all interest groups are free to compete to influence officials, then they'll balance each other out.
如果所有的利益集团都可以自由竞争来影响官员，那么他们就会相互制衡。
It'll be cool.
它会很酷。
The idea of incorporating lots of groups goes back at least as far as James Madison.
合并许多组的想法至少可以追溯到詹姆斯·麦迪逊。
In the Federalist Papers, Madison argued for extending the sphere in American politics and encouraging more and more factions.
在《联邦党人文集》中，麦迪逊主张扩大美国政治的范围，鼓励越来越多的派系。
The theory was that the more groups there were, the less likely that any one group could gain a corrupting influence over the government.
理论是，群体越多，任何一个群体对政府产生腐败影响的可能性就越小。
Sort of like the idea of the wisdom of crowds or Condorcet's jury theorem.
有点像群众智慧的概念或者孔多塞的陪审团定理。
With more interest groups providing more information, we will get policies that are the result of thoughtful compromise.
随着更多利益集团提供更多信息，我们将得到经过深思熟虑的妥协的结果。
Another argument for interest groups is that they offer more opportunity for participation in politics.
利益集团的另一个理由是，他们提供了更多参与政治的机会。
Elections only happen every two years, on the federal level at least, but policy gets made all the time, or at least, it's supposed to.
选举只会每两年举行一次，至少在联邦一级是这样，但政策总是制定出来的，或者至少应该是这样。
By joining an interest group, an individual can push for a policy that care about all the time, not just at election time.
通过加入一个利益集团，个人可以推动一项政策，这项政策不仅在选举期间，而且要时刻关注。
And isn't participation the essence of democracy? I think yes.
参与难道不是民主的本质吗？我想是的。
Sure, it's great to have more voices involved in policy making as long as each voice is powerful enough to be heard.
当然，让更多的声音参与到政策制定中来是很好的，只要每个声音都足够强大，能够被听到。
In the current system, that is just not the case.
在目前的体系中，情况并非如此。
Interest group politics diminishes American democracy because some interest groups are so powerful that their voices are able to crowd out all the others.
利益集团政治削弱了美国的民主，因为一些利益集团非常强大，他们的声音能够压倒其他所有利益集团。
And in America today, the people with the loudest voices are the wealthy!
在今天的美国，声音最大的人是富人!
And me right now!
现在还有我！
And it's not only because the wealthy have more money to give to politicians; although that does help.
这不仅是因为富人有更多的钱可以给政客；尽管这确实有用。
Obviously, people who are really poor can't offer campaign contributions, but there are plenty of advocates for them.
很明显，那些真的很穷的人不能提供竞选捐款，但是他们有很多支持者。
But in America, the wealthy have other resources that the poor just can't bring to bear.
但在美国，富人拥有穷人无法承受的其他资源。
Like money! Lotsa, lotsa, money!
比如钱，许多许多的钱！
They tend to be better educated, so they have access to more information, and the ability to disseminate their views more articulately.
他们往往受过更好的教育，因此他们能够获得更多的信息，能够更清晰地传播他们的观点。
And just as important, wealthy people have more time to devote to political participation than the poor.
同样重要的是，富人比穷人有更多的时间参与政治。
Sure, what you're saying makes sense, but do you have any proof?
当然，你说的有道理，但是你有证据吗?
I mean, there are plenty of laws protecting poor people.
我的意思是，有很多法律保护穷人。
What about the earned income tax credit?
那劳动所得税抵免呢?
Well, I have a chart.
我有一张图表。
You can see that the number of PACs, while not exactly the same thing as interest groups, has grown an awful lot since the mid-1970s.
你可以看到，自上世纪70年代中期以来，政治行动委员会的数量虽然与利益集团的数量并不完全相同，但已经增长了很多。
Corporate interests, which by and large represent wealthy people, vastly outnumber the groups representing working people, like labor and cooperative groups.
总的来说，代表富人的企业利益远远超过代表劳动人民的团体，比如劳工和合作团体。
By numbers alone, wealthy interest groups would seem to have more power than other groups.
仅从数字上看，富裕的利益集团似乎比其他集团拥有更大的权力。
But that's not all.
但这还不是全部。
A series of studies that culminated in the book Affluence;
这系列的研究在《富足》一书中达到高潮；
Influence by Martin Gilens shows pretty definitively that Congress is much more likely to enact laws that respond to the interests of the wealthy, than the poor.
马丁·吉伦斯的影响相当明确地表明，国会更有可能颁布符合富人利益的法律，而不是穷人。
It's not that they never took poor people's interests into account, it's just that they are much, much more likely to make policies that favor the rich.
并不是他们从来没有考虑过穷人的利益，而是他们更有可能制定有利于富人的政策。
Is that the essence of democracy? I think no.
这就是民主的本质吗?我认为不是。
Thanks you beautiful clones.
谢谢你们这些漂亮的克隆人。
So there you have the basics of interest groups in America and why they are so controversial.
以上就是美国利益集团的基本情况，以及它们为何如此有争议。
I hope that you now have a better of what interest groups are and what they are not and how they work to influence policy in government, which is their main function in the American political system.
我希望你们现在能更好地了解利益集团是什么，不是什么，以及他们如何影响政府的政策，这是他们在美国政治体系中的主要职能。
You should also know what the Iron Triangle is and why people complain so much about interest groups in America today, other than they haven't had their coffee yet.
你还应该知道什么是铁三角，以及为什么人们除了还没喝咖啡外，还对美国的利益集团抱怨这么多。
Where's my coffee?!? Thank you.
我的咖啡在哪里? ! ?谢谢你！
But I also hope that you understand the idea of pluralism, it's powerful idea and one that if taken seriously, shows the importance of participation in politics.
但我也希望你们能理解多元主义的概念，这是一个强有力的概念，如果认真对待，它显示了参与政治的重要性。
This is empty. And that's ultimately what interest groups do for us.
这是空话。这就是利益集团最终为我们做的。
They give us another avenue to have our voices heard and contribute to the policies that shape our lives.
它们为我们提供了另一种途径，让我们的声音得到倾听，并为塑造我们生活的政策做出贡献。
Thanks for watching.
感谢收看。
I'll see you next time.
下次见。
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 U.S. Government comes from Voqal.
对美国政府速成班的支持来自Voqal。
Voqal supports nonprofits 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 very special interests.
速成班是在所有这些特殊利益集团帮助下完成的。
Thanks for watching.
谢谢观看。
