特别广播英语第 177 课：The American Two-party System 美国的两党制-1

No one now living in the United States can remember when the contest began between the Democratic and the Republican parties. 现在生活在美国的人没人能记起民主党和共和党之间的竞争是什么时候开始的。

It has been going on for more than a century, making it one of the oldest political rivalries in the world. 这种竞争进行了一个多世纪，是世界上最早的政治竞争之一。

The American political system is a classical example of the two-party system. 美国的政治体制是两党制的典型范例。

When we say that we have a two-party system in the United States we do not mean that we have only two parties. 当我们说美国有两党制时，并不是指美国只有两个政党。

Usually about a dozen parties nominate presidential candidates. 通常约有十几个政党提名总统候选人。

We call it a two-party system because we have two large parties and a number of small parties, and the large parties are so large that we often forget about the rest. 我们之所以称之为两党制，是因为有两个大党派和许多小党派。

Usually the small parties collectively poll less than 5 per cent of the vote cast in national elections. 通常小党派合在一起在全国选举是得票低于全国所投票数的5％。

The democratic and Republican parties are the largest and most competitive organizations in the American community. 在美国社会里，民主党和共和党是最大和最有竞争力的组织。

The organize the electorate very simply by maintaining the two-party system. 他们通过维持两党制，很轻松地组织选民。

Americans almost inevitably become Democrats or Republicans because there is usually no other place for them go to. 因为通常没有其它选择，美国人几乎无可避免地成为民主党员或共和党员。