Self-Rule: A Cultural History of American Democracy
自治：美国民主的文化史
精彩点评
Wiebe then launches into his historical corrective.
He has three major themes
about the history of democracy in this country.
The first theme is based on his assertion that,
"societies organize around the rules of who works for whom,
and the beneficiaries protect those rules in the name of all
that is good in this world and holy in the next".
Wiebe asserts that there have been two major changes
in those rules in our history
and that those changes have created three major stages
in our democratic history.
讲解
逐句对照
Wiebe then launches into his historical corrective.
He has three major themes
about the history of democracy in this country.
The first theme is based on his assertion that,
"societies organize around the rules of who works for whom,
and the beneficiaries protect those rules in the name of all
that is good in this world and holy in the next".
Wiebe asserts that there have been two major changes
in those rules in our history
and that those changes have created three major stages
in our democratic history.
music
The second theme is that our democracy
has two major components:
the collective and individual or, in another phrasing,
popular self-government and individual self-determination.
These components have sometimes worked with each other
and sometimes against each other.
The final theme is how the various institutions of democracy
(e.g. voting qualifications) have been used to tame
or obstruct some of the "excesses of democracy"
讲解
逐句对照
The second theme is that our democracy
has two major components:
the collective and individual
or, in another phrasing,
popular self-government and individual self-determination.
These components have sometimes worked with each other
and sometimes against each other.
The final theme is how the various institutions of democracy
(e.g. voting qualifications) have been used to tame
or obstruct some of the "excesses of democracy"
music
Wiebe sees the major changes
as occurring sometime around the 1820s and the 1930s.
In the first case, we moved from a system
that was still based on deference to elites
in all aspects of our lives.
We looked to leaders in our churches,
in our local communities
and on the national level to represent us,
to act in our common interest.
Many Americans arrived on these shores
legally obligated to their employers.
We were a nation of apprentices,
indentured servants and tenants.
讲解
逐句对照
Wiebe sees the major changes
as occurring sometime around the 1820s and the 1930s.
In the first case, we moved from a system
that was still based on deference to elites
in all aspects of our lives.
We looked to leaders in our churches,
in our local communities
and on the national level to represent us,
to act in our common interest.
Many Americans arrived on these shores
legally obligated to their employers.
We were a nation of apprentices,
indentured servants and tenants.
music
Wiebe's democratic changes began with challenges
to that form of work structure.
Indentured servitude was challenged in the courts and lost.
Apprenticeships began to disappear.
After the War of 1812,
the Native American no longer had any European power
that helped them resist American incursion on their lands.
We stole as much land from them
as we could including large chunks of Alabama,
Georgia and Florida.
The U.S. government then sold that land cheaply
and in small parcels.
As a result, by the 1850s, almost 90% of American farmers
owned their own land.
Such self-directed work was reflected in the political realm.
The mandate broadened to include all white men.
And those white men played the democratic citizen
with a fervor throughout the 19th century
that has not been matched since.
讲解
逐句对照
Wiebe's democratic changes began with challenges
to that form of work structure.
Indentured servitude was challenged in the courts and lost.
Apprenticeships began to disappear.
After the War of 1812,
the Native American no longer had any European power
that helped them resist American incursion on their lands.
We stole as much land from them as we could
including large chunks of Alabama,
Georgia and Florida.
The U.S. government then sold that land cheaply
and in small parcels.
As a result, by the 1850s, almost 90% of American farmers
owned their own land.
Such self-directed work was reflected in the political realm.
The mandate broadened to include all white men.
And those white men played the democratic citizen
with a fervor throughout the 19th century
that has not been matched since.
music
In some ways, this is the period of American history
that Wiebe sees as having been the most democratic.
The political power of the time was diffused
so there was little chance for effective corruption.
White men exerted control locally and nationally.
When the discussion broke down,
we went to war, i.e., the Civil War.
But afterwards, after the brief interlude of Reconstruction,
we went back to white men
deciding within their own communities how to do things.
Please do not read me
or Wiebe as saying this was a good thing
- it is simply the way it was.
讲解
逐句对照
In some ways, this is the period of American history
that Wiebe sees as having been the most democratic.
The political power of the time was diffused
so there was little chance for effective corruption.
White men exerted control locally and nationally.
When the discussion broke down,
we went to war,
i.e., the Civil War.
But afterwards, after the brief interlude of Reconstruction,
we went back to white men
deciding within their own communities how to do things.
Please do not read me
or Wiebe as saying this was a good thing
- it is simply the way it was.
原音重现
Wiebe then launches into his historical corrective.
He has three major themes
about the history of democracy in this country.
The first theme is based on his assertion that,
"societies organize around the rules of who works for whom,
and the beneficiaries protect those rules in the name of all
that is good in this world and holy in the next".
Wiebe asserts that there have been two major changes
in those rules in our history
and that those changes have created three major stages
in our democratic history.
The second theme is that our democracy
has two major components:
the collective and individual or, in another phrasing,
popular self-government and individual self-determination (p.9).
These components have sometimes worked with each other
and sometimes against each other.
The final theme is how the various institutions of democracy
(e.g. voting qualifications) have been used to tame
or obstruct some of the "excesses of democracy"
Wiebe sees the major changes
as occurring sometime around the 1820s and the 1930s.
In the first case, we moved from a system
that was still based on deference to elites
in all aspects of our lives.
We looked to leaders in our churches,
in our local communities
and on the national level to represent us,
to act in our common interest.
Many Americans arrived on these shores
legally obligated to their employers.
We were a nation of apprentices,
indentured servants and tenants.
Wiebe's democratic changes began with challenges
to that form of work structure.
Indentured servitude was challenged in the courts and lost.
Apprenticeships began to disappear.
After the War of 1812,
the Native American no longer had any European power
that helped them resist American incursion on their lands.
We stole as much land from them
as we could including large chunks of Alabama,
Georgia and Florida.
The U.S. government then sold that land cheaply
and in small parcels.
As a result, by the 1850s, almost 90% of American farmers
owned their own land.
Such self-directed work was reflected in the political realm.
The mandate broadened to include all white men.
And those white men played the democratic citizen
with a fervor throughout the 19th century
that has not been matched since.
In some ways, this is the period of American history
that Wiebe sees as having been the most democratic.
The political power of the time was diffused
so there was little chance for effective corruption.
White men exerted control locally and nationally.
When the discussion broke down,
we went to war, i.e., the Civil War.
But afterwards, after the brief interlude of Reconstruction,
we went back to white men
deciding within their own communities how to do things.
Please do not read me
or Wiebe as saying this was a good thing
- it is simply the way it was.