12.03｜經濟學人閱讀｜扉頁文章 The resilience of democracy
經濟學人The Economist是一份英國的英文新聞周報，分八個版本於每周五向全球發行，編輯部位於倫敦，創辦於1843年9月。
經濟學人是一本綜合性新聞評論刊物，有商業、國家和地區、經濟和金融、科學和技術五大類。其中文章文風緊湊且嚴謹，對語言精準運用，展現出一種克制的風趣幽默，常運用雙關語調侃。
經濟學人對於英語考試的重要性不言而喻，其文章常常出現在雅思託福、SAT、GRE、GMAT、考研英語、四六級、MTI和CATTI的閱讀理解真題中。
今天羚羊君（公眾：aa-acad）給大家分享的是經濟學人2020年11月28日期刊中扉頁文章的第一篇：The resilience of democracy。
這篇文章透過美國大選來闡述當今世界民主政治的變化，闡述了所謂的民主政治引發的一系列問題。
想要閱讀往期內容，可以在公眾號右下角點擊"更多資訊-長文閱讀"進入專欄。
01
The resilience of democracy
民主的順應力
For all Donald Trump’s eorts to overturn this month’s election, American democracy never looked likely to buckle after polling day. Sure enough, on November 23rd, even as the president once again condemned 「the most corrupt election in American history」, he agreed that the federal government should give Joe Biden the resources he needs to prepare for oce.
Mr Trump has still done harm, as have the Republican leaders who indulged him (see Lexington). Given that four in every ve Republican voters say the vote was 「stolen」, trust in the fairness of elections has been shaken and Mr Biden unjustly undermined from the very start. Henceforth in close votes routine jobs like counting and certifying votes will risk being part of the battleground. That is not a threat to the republic’s existence,but it does mark a further partisan deterioration in American democracy.
儘管唐納·川普試圖推翻本月大選，但美國民主制度在大選日之後似乎從未改變。可以肯定的是，即使在11月23日總統再次譴責「美國歷史上最腐敗的選舉」，他也同意聯邦政府應為喬·拜登提供繼任時必要的資源。
川普先生和縱容他的共和黨領導人仍然在傷害他人（參見列剋星敦）。鑑於每五名共和黨選民中有四人說投票是「被盜」的，對選舉公正性的信任就已經動搖了，從一開始，拜登先生就遭到了不公正的對待。此後，以緊密投票的方式進行的常規工作，例如點票和證票，將有可能成為雙方戰場的一部分。這並不會威脅到共和制的存在，但這確實標誌著美國民主中黨派關係的進一步惡化。
02
It is also part of a global democratic recession. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a ourishing in the number and quality of liberal democracies, but the trend has now gone into reverse. Hungary and Poland are blocking the European Union budget because their governments refuse to bow to the rule of law (see Charlemagne). Our brieng describes how in the world’s largest democracy the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) under Narendra Modi is capturing institutions, including the courts, the police and now, it is feared, the election commission. The Economist Intelligence Unit (eiu), our sister organisation, has been compiling a democracy index since 2006. Last year’s score was the worst ever.Covid-19has accelerated the decline.
這也是全球民主衰退的一部分。蘇聯的瓦解導致自由民主國家的數量和質量在蓬勃發展，但現在的趨勢已經逆轉。匈牙利和波蘭之所以封鎖歐盟預算，是因為其政府拒絕屈服於法治（見查理曼大帝）。我們的簡報描述了納倫德拉·莫迪領導下的印度人民黨（Bjp）在世界上最大的民主國家中如何佔領包括法院，警察在內的機構，現在恐怕已經佔領了選舉委員會。自2006年以來，我們的姊妹組織經濟學人智庫（eiu）一直在編制民主指數。去年的得分是有史以來最差的。Covid-19加速了這一下降。
03
The threat is not from military coups but governments in power. Given time, unscrupulous leaders can hollow out democracy completely. Two decades ago Venezuela held meaningful elections; today it is about to eliminate the last kernel of opposition (see Americas section). But even in countries where such a calamity is unthinkable, the erosion of norms and institutions leads to worse government. To reverse this, you have to understand what has gone wrong.
對於民主的威脅不是來自軍隊，而是來自執政的政府。只要給他們足夠的時間，無良的領導人就可以徹底破壞民主。二十年前，委內瑞拉舉行了有意義的選舉。而今天，該國反對派的最後一環將被除去（見美洲部分）。但是即使在這樣的國家中，類似的災難是無法想像，規範和制度的侵蝕也會導致政府惡化。要扭轉這種情況，必須了解出現了什麼問題。
04
Whether you support them or not, Mr Trump and his fellow populists came to power as a response to the failings of democratic governments. In rich countries working-class voters came to believe that politicians did not care about them, after their living standards stagnated and they became worried about immigration. In central and eastern Europe governments seeking to join the eu paid more heed to Brussels than their own voters. In developing countries corruption sent the message that the ruling classes were chiey interested in their own bank accounts.
無論您是否支持他們，川普先生和他的民粹主義者上臺都是對民主政府的失敗的回應。在富裕國家，工人階級的選民開始相信：在他們的生活水平停滯不前後，政客們卻並不關心他們，而是開始對移民感到擔憂。在中歐和東歐，尋求加入歐盟的政府對布魯塞爾的關注程度高於其本國選民。在發展中國家，貪腐發出的信號是：統治階級對自己的利益非常感興趣。
05
Enterprising politicians responded to these feelings by elevating identity far above policy so as to show voters that their grievances matter. Such was the upheaval that some old parties were swept away—in France in 2017 they won just a quarter of the vote between them. Poland had thrived under a centrist government, but Law and Justice told voters that their Catholic values were under attack from Brussels. In Brazil Jair Bolsonaro endorsed voters』 contempt for the political class (see Bello). So relentless is Mr Trump’s focus on the identity of his base that he did not even propose a programme for his second term.
有事業心的政客通過將身份提升到遠遠高於政策的水平來回應這些感受，以向選民表明他們的不滿很重要。這樣的動蕩使一些舊政黨席捲而去：2017年在法國，他們只贏得了四分之一的選票。波蘭曾在一個中間派政府的統治下蓬勃發展，但是法律和正義告訴選民，他們的天主教價值觀受到布魯塞爾的攻擊。在巴西，賈爾·博爾索納羅贊同選民對政治階層的蔑視。川普先生如此堅定地專注於自己基層的身份，以至於他甚至沒有提出第二任期的計劃。
06
Identity politics, boosted by social media and partisan television and radio, has re-engaged voters. Participation is the only component of the eiu’s democracy index to have improved since 2006. Mr Biden and Mr Trump both won more votes than any presidential candidates in history. But in solving one of democracy’s problems, identity politics has created others.
That is because a politics that reinforces immutable identities leads away from the tolerance and forbearance a democracy needs to solve social conicts. In arguments about who gets what, people can split the dierence and feel content. In arguments about who they are—over religion, race and anti-elitism, say—compromise can seem like betrayal. When ways of life are at stake the other lot are not just mistaken, they are dangerous. Having not mattered enough, elections now matter too much.
在社交媒體、黨派電視和廣播的推動下，身份政治重新吸引了選民。自2006年以來，參與度是eiu民主指數中唯一改善的組成部分。拜登和川普贏得的選票都超過歷史上任何總統候選人。但是，在解決民主制度中的一個問題時，身份政治卻創造了其他問題。
那是因為強化一成不變的身份的政治擺脫了民主社會解決社會衝突所需要的寬容和忍耐。在爭辯誰得到什麼的爭論中，人們可以分裂差異並感到滿足。在關於宗教信仰、種族和反精英主義的爭論中，妥協似乎意味著背叛。當生活方式受到威脅時，這不僅僅是另一種錯誤，還會帶來危險。過去的選舉顯得不夠重要，而現在選舉變得非常重要。
07
In some countries majoritarian leaders have exploited this tribal loyalty to nobble the institutions supposed to check them. In Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan governs as if democratic power is absolute and condemns those who block him as enemies of the republic. In Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador sidesteps entire branches of government, which have supposedly been captured by the elites, and appeals directly to his supporters in referendums. In India, when the electoral commission pursued bjp candidates less scrupulously than their opponents, one of the three top commissioners objected—only to nd his family investigated for tax evasion.
在某些國家，多數派領導人利用了這種部落的忠誠度來欺騙那些檢查領導人的機構。在土耳其，雷傑普·塔伊普·埃爾多安統治著民主力量，仿佛民主是絕對的，並把那些阻止他的人當作共和國敵人的人。在墨西哥，安德烈斯·曼努埃爾·洛佩斯·奧夫拉多爾避開了據稱已被精英佔領的整個政府部門，並在全民投票中直接呼籲他的支持者。在印度，當選舉委員會認為人民黨的候選人不如他們的競選對手謹慎時，三大委員中的一人提出反對意見——卻發現了他的家人因為逃稅而接受調查。
08
America’s institutions are protected by the professionalism of its judges and ocials. Many of them feel bound by standards laid down by those who came before them.When Mr Trump tried to subvert the election, he failed abjectly because countless people did their duty.
美國的機構受到其法官和官員的專業主義精神的保護。他們中的許多人都受到前輩制定的標準的束縛。當川普想要顛覆選舉時，他悲慘地失敗了，因為有無數的人在堅守著他們的職責。
09
As a result, the main harm identity politics does to America comes through animosity and gridlock. Politics is supposed to resolve society’s conicts, but democracy is generating them instead. Partly because tribes live in dierent information universes, matters of fact like wearing masks and climate change are transformed into disputes about people’s way of life. The result is that American politics has once again become unresponsive. It res people up so much that it obstructs the compromises needed for society to move forward.
因此，身份政治對美國的主要傷害來自於敵意和僵局。政治本來可以解決社會衝突，但是民主卻引發了衝突。其中的部分原因是因為部落生活在不同的信息世界中，戴口罩和氣候變化之類的事已轉變為人們生活方式的爭論。而結果卻是美國政治再次變得無動於衷。這使人們非常惱火，以至於阻礙了社會前進所需的妥協。
經濟學人一般目錄大綱：
The world this week：簡單梳理本周的時事Leaders：社論，對本周熱點事件進行評論Briefing：簡報，對一個特定熱點話題深度討論Letter：讀者來信，對往期文章的評論Sections：各大洲及中美英三國的本周熱點事件報導Business：商業新聞Finances and economics：財經新聞Science and technology：科技新聞Books and arts：文化書籍，書評和文化現象討論Economic and financial indicators：商業及財經指數
Buttonwood：金融專欄Schumpeter：商業專欄Bartleby：職場專欄Bagehot：英國專欄Charlemagne：歐洲專欄Lexington：美國專欄Banyan：亞洲專欄