Why Does the US Only Have Two Major Parties?: Crash Course US Government #2 · CrashCourse
探讨美国两党制的成因，分析制度与选民行为的影响。适合练习政治、文化、生活类词汇与表达。
[funky music beat] Are you tired of politics as usual?
[充满节奏感的放克音乐] 你是否已经厌倦了那些老一套的政治话题和争论？
Democrat or Republican.
无论是民主党人还是共和党人……
Are you looking for something…new?
你在寻找一些……新的东西吗？
Well, you’re not alone.
其实，你并不孤单。
As of 2025, more US voters identified as unaffiliated political “Independents” than as specifically Democrats or Republicans.
到2025年，美国选民中自认为是无党派政治立场“独立派”的人数，将超过那些明确支持民主党或共和党的人。
But wait, there’s more!
但是等等，还有更多内容呢！
Consider how many presidential elections a third party has won in the last 175 years!
想想看：在过去的 175 年里，有多少次总统选举是由第三方政党赢得的！
[record scratch – music stops] None?
[唱片刮擦声——音乐停止] 没有人回应吗？
Wait, what do you mean none?
等等，你说“一个都没有”是什么意思？
As it turns out, nobody but a Democrat or a Republican has won a US presidential election since the mid-19th century,
事实证明，自19世纪中叶以来，美国总统选举的获胜者要么是民主党人，要么是共和党人。
and even before that, even though the party names were different, the two party system was largely the same.
甚至在那之前，尽管各政党的名称有所不同，但两党制的基本框架其实是一样的。
But with so many people who don’t identify with Democrats or Republicans, why do they still feel like the only two options?
但是，既然有那么多人并不认同民主党或共和党，为什么他们仍然觉得只有这两个选择呢？
Hi, I’m Kousha Navidar, this Crash Course, and we’re answering Big Questions on U.S.
大家好，我是库莎·纳维达尔（Kousha Navidar）。在这个“速成课程”中，我们将探讨关于美国的一些重要问题。
Government.
政府。
[THEME MUSIC] See, even though we have
[主题音乐] 你看，尽管我们……
other parties, the US is effectively a two-party system, where voters mostly choose between just two major-party candidates for national elections.
在美国，实际上是一个两党制国家；选民在全国性选举中主要只能在两个主要政党的候选人之间进行选择。
And that…is actually kind of weird.
嗯……这其实有点奇怪。
Most other democracies don’t work like that.
大多数其他民主国家的运作方式并非如此。
All over the world, from Sweden to Uruguay, multiparty democracies are set up to allow multiple political parties to actually compete in national elections.
从瑞典到乌拉圭，世界各地都建立了多党制民主制度，旨在让多个政党能够在国家选举中展开公平竞争。
Heck, Kenya has 92 registered parties.
哎呀，肯尼亚竟然有92个注册在案的政党！
So in terms of global democracy, we are actually the odd ones out.
因此，就全球民主而言，我们实际上才是那个与众不同、显得格格不入的群体。
But it seems like we’d rather not be.
但看起来我们其实并不想成为那样的人。
In 2025, 62% of people in the US thought the country needed a viable third party to represent the people’s interests.
到2025年，美国有62%的人认为该国需要一个能够真正代表民众利益的第三方力量。
But – and here’s where it gets even weirder – the number of people who said they’d be “very likely” to vote for a third-party candidate?
但是——这里才是更奇怪的地方——那些表示自己“非常有可能”投票给第三方候选人的人到底有多少呢？
It’s not 62%-- it’s only 15%.
比例并不是 62%，而只有 15%。
I guess they just haven’t heard of the Anti-Arugula Party?
我想他们可能只是还没听说过“反芝麻菜党”（Anti-Arugula Party）这个组织吧……
We’re pro spinach!
我们支持吃菠菜！
Down with Spicy Lettuce!
Spicy Lettuce”这种产品应该被彻底淘汰！
So what’s up?
那么，最近怎么样？
Why is the US trapped in this two-party system when over half the country wants out?
为什么美国会陷入这种两党制框架中呢？毕竟，超过一半的美国人其实并不希望继续维持这种政治体制。
That dissonance is really interesting.
那种不和谐的声音确实非常有趣。
And to really unpack it, we can
为了真正弄清楚这一点，我们可以……
start by thinking about what the point of having “Democrats” and “Republicans” is supposed to be in the first place.
首先，我们需要思考一下设立“民主党”和“共和党”这两个政治党派的根本意义何在。
The United States is a representative democracy, which means it’s supposed to be ruled by, and reflect the interests of,
美国是一个代议制民主国家，这意味着它应该由人民来统治，并且应该反映人民的利益。
the people who live here.
住在这里的人们。
It’s also a country of over 340 million different people, who presumably have over 340 million different interests.
这个国家拥有超过3.4亿人口，每个人显然都有自己独特的兴趣爱好。
And we can’t all make the laws together.
我们不可能所有人都一起参与制定法律。
Imagine that Zoom call.
想象一下那次通过 Zoom 进行的视频通话吧。
And we can’t get much accomplished by ourselves either.
而且，我们单靠自己也无法完成太多事情。
So instead, we organize into political parties that share some basic interests, and elect representatives who promise to more or less represent those interests.
因此，我们选择以政治党派的形式进行组织；这些党派拥有某些共同的利益诉求，我们会选举出那些承诺会尽可能代表这些利益的代表。