特别广播英语第 179 课：The American Two-party System 美国的两党制-3

One of the great consequences of the system is that it produces majorities automatically. 这种制度的最大结果就是它自动地产生了多数党。

Because there are only two competitors in the running, it is almost inevitable that one will receive a majority. 因为只有两个竞争者参加竞选，几乎可以肯定其中一个将赢得多数。

Moreover, the system tends slightly to exaggerate the victory of the winning party. 而且，这种制度似乎有些夸大获胜党的胜利。

This is not always true, but the strong tendency to produce majorities is built into the system. 虽然并不总是如此。但是产生多数党的巨大倾向在这种制度中形成了。

In over 200 years of constitutional history, Americans have learned much about the way in which the system can be managed so as to make possible the peaceful transfer of power from one party to the other. 在200多年的宪法史中，美国人对两党制的运作方法已经有很多了解，以使政权能够和平地从一个政党移交到另一个政党。

At the level of presidential elections, the party in power has been overturned by the party out of power nineteen times, almost once a decade. 在总统选举中，执政党已被在野党击败了19次，几乎每十年一次。

In the election of 1860, the political system broke down, and the Civil War, the worst disaster in American history, resulted. 在1860年的选举中，这种政治制度中断了，结果导致了南北战争――美国历史上最大的灾难。

Our history justifies our confidence in the system but also shows that it is not foolproof. 历史证明我们有理由对这一制度保持信心，但历史也表明这一制度不是万无一失的。

The second major party is able to survive a defeat because the statistical tendency that exaggerates the victory of the winning party operates even more strongly in favor of the second party against the third, fourth, and fifth parties. 第二大党能在失败下继续生存，是因为在统计上夸大获胜党的获胜，这能够更有力地支持第二大党对第三、第四、第五党派的对抗。