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Hi, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics,
嗨，我是克雷格，这是《政府和政治速成课》。
and today we're going to talk about what is, if you ask the general public, the most important part of politics: elections.
今天我们要讨论的是，普通大众所认为的政治最重要的部分：选举。
If you ask me, it's hair styles.
如果你问我，我会说发型。
Look at Martin Van Buren's sideburns, how could he not be elected?
看看马丁·范布伦的连鬓胡子，他怎么会没有当选呢?
Americans are kind of obsessed with elections.
美国人有点痴迷于选举。
I mean when this was being recorded in early 2015,
我的意思是，2015年初，
television, news and the internet were already talking about who would be Democrat and Republican candidates for president in 2016.
电视、新闻和互联网已经在讨论谁将是2016年的民主党和共和党总统候选人。
And many of the candidates have unofficially been campaigning for years.
当中很多人都是纸上谈兵，并没有真正地参加竞选。
I've been campaigning;
我参加竞选了；
your grandma's been campaigning.
你奶奶我也参加竞选了
Presidential elections are exciting and you can gamble on them.
总统竞选通常来说都是令人兴奋的，甚至你还能基于总统选举进行赌博。
Is that legal, can you gamble on them, Stan?
这是合法的吗，斯坦，你能赌一把吗？
Anyway, why we're so obsessed with them is a topic for another day.
先不论能不能，我们之所以每次总统选举都很兴奋又是另一个原因了。
Right now I'm gonna tell you that the fixation on the presidential elections is wrong,
现在我告诉你们痴迷于总统选举是错误的。
but not because the president doesn't matter.
但这并不是因为总统不重要。
No, today we're gonna look at the elections of the people that are supposed to matter the most, Congress.
今天我们就来看看对我们而言最重要的选举：国会选举。
Constitutionally at least, Congress is the most important branch of government
从宪法上来讲，国会是政府最重要的分支。
because it is the one that is supposed to be the most responsive to the people.
国会选举正是人民最关心，最津津乐道的。
One of the main reasons it's so responsive, at least in theory, is the frequency of elections.
理论上来讲，之所以成为最关心的选举，最主要的原因便是国会选举的频率
If a politician has to run for office often (he or she, because unlike the president we have women serving in Congress),
假如一名政治家经常参与公职竞选（他/她，不像总统竞选，我们有女性在国会任职）
kind of has to pay attention to what the constituents want, a little bit, maybe.
哪怕是一点点，他们必须注意什么才是选民想要的。
By now, I'm sure that most of you have memorized the Constitution,
我相信你们你们大部分人都已经将宪法牢记于心。
so you recognize that despite their importance in the way we discuss politics, elections aren't really a big feature of the
Constitution.
那么你们应当意识到尽管宪法在我们讨论政治的形式时很重要，但事实是选举并不是宪法的一大亮点。
Except of course for the ridiculously complex electoral college system for choosing the president,
当然，还是得除去总统选举的那荒谬可笑的选举团制度，
which we don't even want to think about for a few episodes.
这是我们都不屑于去花集数去讨论的。
In fact, here's what the Constitution says about Congressional Elections in Article 1 Section 2:
实际上，这是宪法所规定的关于国会选举的第二款第一条：
The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states,
众议院由各州人民每两年选举产生的众议员组成。
and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state
legislature.
每个州的选举人须具备该州州议会上人数最多一院选举人所需的资格。
So the Constitution does establish that the entire house is up for election every 2 years, and 1/3 of the senate is too,
因此宪法规定众议院每两年进行一次选举，参议院的三分之一亦是如此，
but mainly it leaves the scheduling and rules of elections up to the states.
但还是把选举的时间与规则的主导权留给了各个州进行管理。
The actual rules of elections, like when the polls are open and where they actually are,
而选举的实际规则，例如投票时间，地点
as well as the registration requirements, are pretty much up to the states,
还有投票的注册要求，大部分都取决于各个州，
subject to some federal election law.
但同时也受一些联邦政府发行的选举法的约束。
If you really want to know the rules in your state,
如果你真的非常想知道你所在的州的选举规则，
I'm sure that someone at the Board of Elections will be happy to explain them to you.
那么我相信选举委员会的人会很乐意向您解释的。
Really, you should give them a call;
说真的，你真应该给他们打个电话，
they're very, very lonely.
他们其实非常孤独，
In general though, here's what we can say about American elections.
通常来讲，这些就将是我们对美国大选的看法。
First stating the super obvious, in order to serve in congress, you need to win an election.
说先你们得知道，想要进入国会并成为一员，首先得赢得选举。
In the House of Representatives, each election district chooses a single representative,
在众议院，每个选选区会选出一名代表，
which is why we call them single-member districts.
也就是我们常说的单一选区制。
The number of districts is determined by the Census,
而地区的数量便是由人口普查决定的，
which happens every 10 years,
每10年进行一次人口普查，
and which means that elections ending in zeros are super important, for reasons that I'll explain in greater detail in a future episode.
换句话来讲，使选举结束于0是很重要的，至于原因我会在之后的一集中做详解。
It's because of gerrymandering.
这是因为杰利蝾螈（指以不公平的选区划分方法操纵选举，致使投票结果有利于某方）。
The Senate is much easier to figure out because both of the state Senators are elected by the entire state.
参议院就较为简单理解了，因为每个州的那两个参议员都是由整个州进行选举产生。
It's as if the state itself were a single district,
就好比如整个国家就是一个单一地区，
which is true for states like Wyoming, which are so unpopulated as to have only 1 representative.
像怀俄明州这样的人口稀少的州就只有一名代表，
Sometimes these elections are called at large elections.
有些时候这些选举会在大型选举中进行。
Before the election ever happens, you need candidates.
选举前，需要有候选人。
How candidates are chosen differs from state to state, but usually it has something to do with political parties,
候选人的产生取决于各州，但通常与政府有脱不开的关系，
although it doesn't have to.
尽管不一定非得这样。
Why are things so complicated?!
为什么事情总是这么复杂到爆炸啊！？
What we can say is that candidates, or at least good candidates, usually have certain characteristics.
而这其中我们所能讨论的便是候选人了，至少是好的候选人，通常都有一定的特点。
Sorry America.
对不起啦，美国（白头鹰）。
First off, if you are gonna run for office, you should have an unblemished record,
第一，如果你想竞选公职，那么你至少不能有污点记录。
free of, oh I don't know, felony convictions or sex scandals, except maybe in Louisiana or New York.
例如像重罪定罪或性丑闻这些的，可能除了路易斯安那州和纽约吧。
This might lead to some pretty bland candidates or people who are so calculating that they have no skeletons in their closet,
这或许会导致出现一些没有激情或者铁算盘般的候选人，但是这些候选人并不会有什么不可告人的秘密，
but we Americans are a moral people and like our candidates to reflect our ideals rather than our reality.
但我们美国人还是讲道理，诚信的，我们更期望候选人能够反应出我们的理想，而不是现实。
The second characteristic that a candidate must possess is the ability to raise money.
第二个特点：候选人都具备筹集资金的能力。
Now some candidates are billionaires and can finance their own campaigns.
现在有一些候选人是亿万富翁，他们有能力自费。
But most billionaires have better things to do:
但大多数亿万富翁有更逍遥的事情要做：
buying yachts,
买游艇、
making even more money,
赚钱、
building money forts,
建造自己的小金库、
buying more yachts,
然后买更多的游艇，
so they don't have time to run for office.
所以他们并不会屁颠屁颠地跑去当公务员。
But most candidates get their money for their campaigns by asking for it.
大多数的候选人都是筹集资金而不是自费。
The ability to raise money is key, especially now, because running for office is expensive.
筹集资金的能力很重要，尤其是现在，竞选公职简直贵得离谱。
Can I get a how expensive is it?
这价钱到底贵成啥样呢？
How expensive is it?!
“多贵！？”
Well, so expensive that the prices of elections continually rises and in 2012 winners of House races spent nearly 2 million each.
你看看，2012年的时候众议院选举的获胜者人均花费了200万英镑，
Senate winners spent more than 10 million.
参议院的获胜者人均花费1000万美元以上。
By the time this episode airs, I'm sure the numbers will be much higher like a gajillion billion million.
到这一集播出的时候，我相信这个数字会高得多，并且已经达到了天文数字级别，像10亿或百万那么多。
Money is important in winning an election,
虽说钱对于赢得选举来说很重要，
but even more important, statistically, is already being in Congress.
但更重要的是那些已经在国会当中记录的部分。
Let's go to the Thought Bubble.
接下来让我们进行思想泡泡。
The person holding an office who runs for that office again is called the incumbent and has a big advantage over any challenger.
已经任职的人再一次参与竞选被称为在职人员他们相比于任何一名挑战者而言都具有很大优势。
This is according to political scientists who,
根据政治学家的说法，
being almost as bad at naming things as historians, refer to this as incumbency advantage.
这被命名为在职者优势，而这些政治家们跟那些历史学家们一样不懂命名
There are a number of reasons why incumbents tend to hold onto their seats in congress, if they want to.
关于在职者想通常都想保持自己在国会中的席位的原因有很多（如果他们想的话）
The first is that a sitting congressman has a record to run on, which we hope includes some legislative accomplishments,
其一便是国会议员都是有记录的，记录他们都做了什么
although for the past few Congresses, these don't seem to matter.
尽管近几年国会中立法事件并没有发生，
The record might include case work, which is providing direct services to constituents.
但我们都希望其中可以记录些关于他们在立法问题上的成就。
This is usually done by congressional staffers and includes things like answering questions about how to get certain government benefits
or writing recommendation letters to West Point.
这通常由国会工作人员来完成，包括回答有关如何获得某些政府福利的问题，或者给西点军校写推荐信。
Congressmen can also provide jobs to constituents, which is usually a good way to get them to vote for you.
同时，国会议员还能给予选民良好的就业机会以换取更高的投票率。
These are either government jobs, kind of rare these days,
这些都是政府的工作，虽然这些操作近来都很少见
called patronage or indirect employment through government contracts for programs within a Congressman's district.
在国会议员的选区内通过与政府的合同进行赞助或者给予间接就业
These programs are called earmarks or pork barrel programs, and they are much less common now because Congress has decided not to use
them any more, sort of.
这些操作被戏称为特殊专款或猪肉桶，之所以现在几乎看不到这些操作了，那是因为国会已经不再允许使用这些操作了。
The second advantage that incumbents have is that they have a record of winning elections, which if you think about it, is pretty
obvious.
现任的第二个优势就是他们有往年赢得选举的记录。
Being a proven winner makes it easier for a congressmen to raise money, which helps them win,
他们作为往年的赢家往往更容易筹集资金，这对于他们赢得选举有极大帮助
and long term incumbents tend to be more powerful in Congress which makes it even easier for them to raise money and win.
而那些国会中的元老往往在国会中占有很大的权利，这也使得他们更加容易地筹集资金并赢得选举。
The Constitution give incumbents one structural advantage too.
同时，宪法也赋予了现任一个结构性的优势。
Each elected congressman is allowed $100,000 and free postage to send out election materials.
那就是每名当选的国会议员都会得到一笔10万美元的免费邮资以发送选举材料。
This is called the franking privilege.
这被称为邮政免费特权。
It's not so clear how great an advantage this is in the age of the internet,
现在还不清楚这在互联网时代有多大的优势。
but at least according to the book The Victory Lab, direct mail from candidates can be surprisingly effective.
但根据选战胜利之数据分析（The Victory Lab） 的说法，那些来自候选人的邮件通常非常有效。
How real is this incumbency advantage?
那么我们刚刚说的这些现任者优势到底有残酷？
Well if you look at the numbers, it seems pretty darn real.
那么你看看这些数字，你就会明白了。
Over the past 60 years, almost 90% of members of The House of Representatives got re-elected.
在过去60年里，有几乎90%的众议院议员连任。
The Senate has been even more volatile, but even at the low point in 1980 more than 50% of sitting senators got to keep their jobs.
而参议院相较之下就更加不稳定了，像在1980年的低谷期只有将近50%的参议院议员连任。
Thanks, Thought Bubble. You're so great.
谢谢你，思想泡泡。你真是帮了太多忙了。
So those are some of the features of congressional elections.
这就是国会选举的一些特点。
Now, if you'll permit me to get a little politically sciencey,
现在，如果你允许我说点政治科学，
I'd like to try to explain why elections are so important to the way that Congressmen and Senators do their jobs.
那么我将很乐意为你解释为什么对于国会议员和参议员的工作来说，选举如此重要。
In 1974, political scientist David Mayhew published a book in which he described something he called "The Electoral Connection";
1974年，政治学家大卫·梅休出版了一本书，书中他描述了所谓的“选举系统。”
This was the idea that Congressmen were primarily motivated by the desire to get re-elected, which intuitively makes a lot of sense,
即国会议员进行连任竞选的原因主要是出于对连任的心理追求，从心理上来讲这还是有道理的，
even though I'm not sure what evidence he had for this conclusion.
但这结论我还不确定到底有什么证据证明。
Used to be able to get away with that kind of thing I guess,
过去来讲，他或许能逃脱这证据法则，
clearly David may-not-hew to the rules of evidence, pun, high five, nope.
但显然他不可能遵守这证据法则。（扣篮！击掌！不要！）
Anyway Mayhew's research methodology isn't as important as his idea itself
无论如何，梅林的自身想法并没有他的研究理论那般重要。
because The Electoral Connection provides a frame work for understanding congressman's activities.
因为选举系统提供了整整一个框架来使我们理解国会议员的工作。
Mayhew divided representatives' behaviors and activities into three categories.
梅林将行动与活动的代表分为了三类。
The first is advertising; congressmen work to develop their personal brand so that they are recognizable to voters.
第一：广告。国会议员们通常致力于发展他们的个人企业，以使他们能够更加容易的被选民认出。
Al D'Amato used to be know in New York as Senator Pothole,
艾尔·达马托曾是纽约的参议员。
because he was able to bring home so much pork that he could actually fix New York's streets.
因为他能争取很多猪肉（钱）给纽约，这些钱可以用来整修纽约损坏的道路。
Not by filling them with pork, money, its money, remember pork barrel spending?
难道猪肉不是用来吃的吗？那么你还记得我们之前提到的猪肉桶消费吗？
The second activity is credit claiming;
第二项则是信用记录。
Congressmen get things done so that they can say they got them done.
国会议员们把他们的工作按时完成，这样他们就能够说他们完成工作了。
A lot of case work and especially pork barrel spending are done in the name of credit claiming.
大多数情况下，比如说猪肉桶消费就是在信用的名义下进行的。
Related to credit claiming, but slightly different, is position taking.
接下来这点与信用贷款很想，但略有不同，那就是位置夺取。
This means making a public judgmental statement on something likely to be of interest to voters.
这就意味着参选人必须针对于一些选民感兴趣的话题发表公开演讲。
Senators can do this through filibusters.
而参议员可以通过阻挠议事程序来做到这一点。
Representatives can't filibuster, but they can hold hearings,
而代表则不能进行阻挠，但他们可以举行听证会而不需要通过立法，
publicly supporting a hearing is a way of associating yourself with an idea
一个公开的听证会将会是一种将自己与选民的想法联系起来的好方式，
without having to actually try to pass legislation.
当然，他们想的话，还可以去参加电视节目
And of course they can go on the TV, especially on Sunday talk shows.
尤其是周末的脱口秀节目上。
What's a TV, who even watches TV?
现在还会有人看电视？电视是什么鬼？
Now the idea of The Electoral Connection doesn't explain every action a member of Congress takes;
现在这些关于选举关系的概念并不能完美解释国会议员将采取的每项行动；
sometimes they actually make laws to benefit the public good or maybe solve problems.
有时候他们甚至会通过制定新的法律来造福大众或者解决问题。
Huh, what an idea! But Mayhew's idea gives us a way of thinking about Congressional activity,
嗯，好想法！说是这样说，但是梅林的想法终究还是给了我们一个思考国会行动的方针，
an analytical lens that connects what Congressmen actually do with how most of us understand Congressmen, through elections.
以一种分析的视角，将国会议员的实际行动与我们大多数人通过往年的选举所理解的国会议员的运行方式联系在一起
So the next time you see a Congressmen call for a hearing on a supposed horrible scandal
所以呢，如果某一天你听到某个国会议员要举行一场揭露丑闻的听证会
or read about a Senator threatening to filibuster a policy that may have significant popular support,
又或者读到某个参议员威胁要对一项由大量民众支持的政策进行阻挠时，
ask yourself, "Is this Representative claiming credit or taking a position, and how will this build their brand?"
你应当问问你自己：“这名参议员是准备申请贷款还是准备担任职务？而这又将如何塑造他的品牌形象？”
In other words: what's the electoral connection and how will whatever they're doing help them get elected?
换句话说，选举中这些活动有什么联系？他们又需如何做才能帮助他们当选？
This might feel a little cynical, but the reality is Mayhew's thesis often seems to fit with today's politics.
这听起来似乎有点愤世嫉俗，但实际上梅林的观点正好与当今的政治制度相吻合。
Thanks for watching, see you next week.
感谢收看，下周见。
Vote for me; I'm on the TV. I'm not -- I'm on the YouTube.
快投票给我！我将出现于电视节目中！不不不，开个玩笑，我还是会在YouTube上的。
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
《政府与政治速成课》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 nonprofits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持利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.
在Voqal.org了解更多关于他们的使命和倡议。
Crash Course is made by all of these nice people.
《速成班》是由所有这些善良的人制作的，
Thanks for watching. That guy isn't nice.
感谢收看。这个家伙并不善良。
