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北京KET PET:美国宪法和选举制度的历史

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2020年美国大选又这样轰轰烈烈戏剧性地展开了，而这复杂的美国选举制度为什么是这样设计呢？要从200多年前美国建国开始历史说起。

01

华盛顿交出军权

On December 23, 1783, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, General George Washington resigns as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retires to his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

独立战争结束，随着英美和平协议签订，华盛顿将军开始解散大陆军。51岁的总司令，抖掉所有尘土，走回他渴望的弗农山庄的生活。

今天美国国会山展厅依然挂着一副“华盛顿辞去军职”的画。他身后椅子上搭着一件王袍，表示拒绝了王权的诱惑。

（民权第一次在没有任何保护的状态下超越了强大的军权。）

然而，美国成立了，他们渴望已久的自由也得到了，可是1783年的“美利坚合众国”，没有统一的货币，海关，税收，政府制度。没有总统也没有司法权，根本就不是一个统一的国家，倒像是13个独立国家的松散联盟。

这个叫“美国”的国家，并不存在！存在的只是13个独立的州或者“邦” ，如何把这13个“邦”变成一个国家，才是真正让人心力交瘁的历程。

华盛顿走了，人们不得不面对一个残酷的现实，他们需要一个强有力的政府。

02

美国宪法历史

A HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION

美国宪法制定两位巨人----- 亚历山大.汉密尔顿和詹姆斯.麦迪逊。

Alexander Hamilton

He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.He took the lead in the Federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain.

作为美国建国国父之一，1784年，汉密尔顿建立了美国最早的两家真正意义上的中央银行体系，北美银行和美国第一银行。

这个人看到了纽约作为商业和金融中心的未来，就是华尔街最早的创办者。

今天的美国是汉密尔顿200多年前就看到的未来。

在除了华盛顿，没有人理解他。

James Madison was an American statesman, diplomat, expansionist, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the United States Bill of Rights. He co-wrote The Federalist Papers, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party.

詹姆斯·麦迪逊(James Madison)是美国政治家、外交家和开国之父，曾在1809年至1817年间担任美国第四任总统。他被誉为“宪法之父”，因为他在起草和推动美国宪法和美国人权法案方面发挥了关键作用。他合写了《联邦党人文集》，与人共同创立了民主党和共和党(Democratic-Republican Party)。

03

1787宪法的诞生

The Consitutional Convention of 1787

Alexander Hamilton brilliantly saved the convention from failure by calling upon Congress to summon all states to be represented at a convention in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

亚历山大·汉密尔顿(Alexander Hamilton)通过号召国会召集所有州的代表参加1787在宾夕法尼亚州费城举行的大会。

The official purpose of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation but when the convention convened, the delegates realized that they had two general goals in common: to create a republican form as well as a new constitutional form of government.

1787年制宪会议的正式目的是提出对《邦联条例》的修正案，但当会议召开时，代表们意识到他们有两个共同的总体目标:创建一个共和政体和一个新的宪法形式的政府。

However, the Constitutional delegation consisted of members from all areas of the United States who held varied interests and ideas on how the government should be organized.

然而，宪法代表团由来自美国各地的成员组成，他们对如何组织政府有不同的兴趣和想法。

This important occasion called for the most able men to drop their personal pursuits and come to the aid of their country.

这个重要的时刻要求最有能力的人放弃他们的个人追求，来帮助他们的国家。

The caliber of representatives and participants was extraordinarily high -- Thomas Jefferson dubbed everyone present as "demigods." George Washington, enormously prestigious as "the sword of the American revolution," was unanimously elected chairman of the convention.

代表和与会者的素质都非常高——托马斯·杰斐逊(Thomas Jefferson)把在场的每个人都称为“半神”。以“美国革命之剑”而享有极高声望的乔治·华盛顿被一致推选为大会主席。

Benjamin Franklin added the experience and urbanity of an elder statesman. James Madison's contributions were so notable that he was dubbed "the Father of the Constitution." Alexander Hamilton and other notable representatives also participated in this history altering event.

本杰明·富兰克林作为资深政治家，又老练又文雅。詹姆斯·麦迪逊的贡献是如此引人注目，以至于他被称为“宪法之父”。亚历山大·汉密尔顿和其他著名的代表也参加了这个改变历史的活动。

After prolonged debate, the delegates arrived at the "Great Compromise" or "Connecticut Compromise," which formed a new national government with three branches -- executive, legislative and judicial -- as a "checks and balances" system.

经过长时间的辩论，代表们达成了“康涅狄格妥协”，该妥协形成了一个新的国家政府----三权分立，由行政、立法和司法三个分支组成，作为一个“制衡”体系。

They created a new legislative power, a bicameral parliament, with an Upper and a lower house. The Lower House is directly elected by the people, the Upper house is nominated by various parliaments, and the lower House votes.

他们创造了一种新的立法权---- 两院制，国会分上议院（参议院）和下议院（众议院）。下议院由人民直接选举，上议院由各种议会提名，下议院投票。众议院体现民主的威力，参议院体现共和的价值。两院制是为了防止过度民主，保护少数人利益的有效手段，这是国父们设计的思路。

The new Constitution also provided for a strong, independent Executive Branch, which included a President and Vice President.

新宪法还规定了一个强大、独立的行政部门，其中包括总统和副总统。

(P.S 图为1787 费城会议）

The President had a term of four years to institute his programs though he could be re-elected if his performance garnered sufficient support.

总统有一个四年的任期来建立他的项目，虽然他可以再次当选，如果他的表现获得足够的支持。

The president was to be the commander-in-chief of the military and was to have wide powers of appointment to domestic offices, including Supreme Court judges.

总统将是军队的总司令，并拥有广泛的任命国内办公室的权力，包括最高法院法官。

P.S: 在宪法第22修正案之前，总统在理论上是可以无限期连任连选，但是这个现象没有发生（只有一位例外）， 只因为华盛顿榜样的力量。

04

选举人团制

electoral college

为了最大限度的州权平等（美国各州人口并不平衡。幅度太大），麦迪逊提出了“选举人团制”。

根据美国宪法，美国总统选举实行选举人团制度，总统由各州议会选出的选举人团选举产生，而不是由选民直接选举产生。这一制度于1788年第一次实行，现已经历了200多年。

When Americans vote for President and Vice President of the United States, they are actually voting for presidential electors, known collectively as the Electoral College.

当美国人投票选举总统和副总统时，他们实际上是在投票给总统选举人，这些选举人统称为选举团。

At the beginning of the founding of the United States, transportation and information were underdeveloped, and most people had limited knowledge. They had no overall concept of the Union and had not even heard of presidential candidates from other states. It's easier to vote for the presidential candidate in your state, which makes it harder for the winning President to garner nationwide support and appeal to the public.

美国立国之初，交通、信息还不发达，绝大部分民众认知有限，对联邦根本没有整体概念，甚至没有听说过其他州的总统候选人。因此更看重自己本州的利益，很容易为本州的总统候选人投票，这样一来，获胜的总统很难获得全国范围的支持，无法服众。

On the other hand, if popular elections were held, large states with large populations would dominate, while smaller states would have little chance of winning. Virginia, for example, had as many voters as the other five states combined, by a wide margin. In a popular vote, the President would probably come from Virginia.

另一方面，如果全民直选，人口众多的大州将占据主导地位，而较小州的总统候选人胜率变得很小。比如当时的弗吉尼亚州的选民是其他5个州的选民总和，差距极为悬殊。直接投票的话，很可能总统出自弗吉尼亚。

正是考虑到上面两点，美国开国元勋、也是宾夕法尼亚州的代表詹姆斯·威尔逊（James Wilson）提出了各方兼顾的“选举人团”方案。各州选举出唯一的结果后，选举人再代表本州民意集中投票，简单直接，一目了然。同时选举人团制度限制了大州的影响，把小州的民意捆绑销售，提高了小州的话语权，这样就解决了前面说的困难。

今天，每个州的选举人人数从3人(哥伦比亚特区)到55人(加州)不等（根据地方的人口比例），总共538人。要当选美国总统，候选人需要270张选举人票的多数票。

After much debate, the plan was ratified by a majority of states and written into the Constitution. The founding father of the United States, George Washington, was elected the first President in 1789 by the Electoral College. He is widely expected to be the only President in American history to receive all electoral votes.

这个方案经过激烈讨论后，得到了多数州的同意，写进了宪法。美国国父华盛顿在1789年经过选举人团投票，当选为首任总统。他是美国历史上唯一获得全部选举人票的总统，可谓众望所归。

当然，今天选举细节规定也是在后来不断修缮中形成的，但大致依然保持开国最初的设定。

这种选举制度又有什么好处呢？一句话来概括的话，就是既能尊重多数，又能照顾少数。

2016年川普战胜希拉里。在全国范围内，川普得票率45.97%，希拉里得票率48.06%，总体上川普落后多达300万票，但是川普赢得了30个州的胜利，得到了304张选举人票。而希拉里虽然总票数领先很多，但是全部是集中在几个人口大州，最终仅仅赢得20个州的227张选举人票，痛失选举

与此高度雷同的还有2000年大选，民主党戈尔在全国范围内领先小布什50多万票，已经赢得266张选举人票，再赢一州即可获胜。但仅仅是因为在佛罗里达输了区区537票，结果被落后的小布什拿到佛罗里达的25张选举人票，一举反超，痛失选举。戈尔为了重新计票上诉到了最高法院，结果败诉。这样的例子在美国大选历史还出现过3次，分别是1824、1876、1888大选。这种奇特的景象在其他的国家选举中是见不到的。而极少数地区的极少数选票就能决定大选结果的情况，也只有在这种制度下才会出现。