在全球民主国家眼中，美国民主已迷失方向 - 纽约时报中文网

Lin Wei-hsuan was just a child when he observed his first Taiwanese election. His parents took him to watch the vote-counting, where volunteers held up each paper ballot, shouting out the choice and marking it on a board for all to see — the huge crowd of citizens inside, and many more watching live on television.

林炜轩第一次观察台湾选举时还是个孩子。他父母带他去看计票，只见志愿者们拿起每张纸质选票，把上面的选择大声宣读出来，然后标记在一块板子上，让所有的人都能看到，点票现场挤满了市民，还有更多的人通过电视收看直播。

The open process, established after decades of martial law, was one of several creative steps that Taiwan’s leaders took to build public trust in democracy and to win over the United States, whose support might deter China’s aim of unification.

在实行了几十年戒严令后，这个公开程序是台湾领导人为建立公众对民主的信任而采取的一些创造性步骤之一，这样做也是为了赢得美国的支持——这种支持可能会使中国不敢轻易使用武力统一台湾。

At the time, America was what Taiwan aspired to be. But now, many of the democracies that once looked to the United States as a model are worried that it has lost its way. They wonder why a superpower famous for innovation is unable to address its deep polarization, producing a president who spread false claims of election fraud that significant parts of the Republican Party and the electorate have embraced.

那时候，美国是台湾渴望学习的榜样。但现在，许多曾经视美国为榜样的民主国家担心，美国已经迷失了方向。他们想知道，为什么一个以创新著称的超级大国无法解决国内严重的意见两极化，选出了一名散布选举舞弊谎言的总统，而且有相当多的共和党人和选民接受这种谎言。

“Democracy needs to revise itself,” said Mr. Lin, 26, a candidate for a local council, campaigning for efficient trash removal and lowering Taiwan’s voting age to 18 from 20. “We need to look at what it’s been doing, and do better.”

“民主制度需要自我修正，”现年26岁的林先生说。他是地方议会的候选人，他参与了有效处理垃圾的活动，以及将台湾的投票年龄从20岁降到18岁的倡议。“我们需要看看正在做的事情，并将其做得更好。”

台湾今年10月的国庆庆祝活动。 Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

For most of the world, the U.S. midterms are little more than a blip — but they are another data point on what some see as a trend line of trouble. Especially in countries that have found ways to strengthen their democratic processes, interviews with scholars, officials and voters revealed alarm that the United States seemed to be doing the opposite and sliding away from its core ideals.

对世界上大多数国家来说，美国的中期选举不过是一个小插曲，但也有一些人认为，这是他们看到的麻烦趋势线的又一个数据点。尤其是在那些已经找到办法加强民主进程的国家，对这些国家的学者、官员和选民的采访揭示了他们的担心，即美国似乎正在做相反的事情，正在偏离自己的核心理想。

Several critics of America’s direction cited the Jan. 6 riots, a violent rejection of democracy’s insistence on the peaceful transfer of power. Others expressed concern about states’ erecting barriers to voting after the record turnout that resulted from widespread early and absentee voting during the pandemic. A few said they worried that the Supreme Court was falling prey to party politics, like judiciaries in nations struggling to establish independent courts.

一些批评美国走向的人提到了今年1月6日的骚乱，那是一次对民主制度所坚持的权力和平移交的暴力拒绝。还有一些人对美国各州设置投票障碍表示担忧，设置障碍是在新冠病毒大流行期间，很多人选择了提前投票和缺席投票，使投票率创下新高之后出现的。个别人说，他们担心美国最高法院正成为党派政治的受害者，就像那些正在艰难地建立司法独立的国家里的司法机构一样。

“The United States did not get into the position where it is now overnight,” said Helmut K. Anheier, a sociology professor at the Hertie School in Berlin and a principal investigator for the Berggruen Governance Index , a study of 134 countries in which America sits below Poland in quality of life. “It took a while to get there, and it will take a while to get out.”

“美国不是一夜之间变成现在这种状态的，”柏林赫蒂学院的社会学教授赫尔穆特·安海尔说，他是伯格鲁恩治理指数 的首席研究员，该指数来自对134个国家的研究，其中的美国生活质量指数低于波兰。“用了一段时间才变成现在这样，走出这种状态也将需要一段时间。”

美国国内意见的高度两极化妨碍了选举制度改革。 Hilary Swift for The New York Times

Tough Critiques From Old Friends

On a recent afternoon in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which has long had economic and family ties with Boston, visitors and residents expressed sorrow, disappointment and surprise about their neighbor’s political situation.

不久前的一个下午，在加拿大新斯科舍省的哈利法克斯，一些游客和居民对邻国的政治状况表示了悲伤、失望和惊讶。长久以来，哈利法克斯与波士顿之间存在着经济和家庭的联系。

“I’m very concerned,” said Mary Lou MacInnes, a registered nurse who was visiting the Halifax Public Gardens with her family. “I never thought it would happen in the U.S., but I think it’s going to be perhaps autocratic going forward.”

“我很担心，”玛丽·卢·麦金尼斯说，她是一名注册护士，正和家人一起参观哈利法克斯公共花园。“我从没想到这会在美国发生，但我觉得美国也许正在走向独裁的未来。”

In 1991, studies showed that Canadians were almost evenly divided on which of the two countries had the better system of government. In a follow-up survey last year , only 5 percent preferred the American system.

在1991年，有研究表明，对于这两个国家的政府体制哪一个更好的问题，加拿大人两种意见势均力敌。在去年的一项后续调查 中，只有5%的人更偏向美国制度。

For some, in Canada and in other countries that consider themselves close friends of America, the first signs of trouble emerged with the presidential race in 2000, when George W. Bush won a narrow victory over Al Gore with a decision from the Supreme Court.

在加拿大和其他自认为美国亲密朋友的国家，一些人认为问题的最初迹象出现在2000年的总统大选，当时在最高法院的裁决下，小布什以微弱优势战胜了戈尔。

For others, it was Donald J. Trump’s winning the 2016 election while losing the popular vote, followed by his refusal to accept defeat in 2020 and the lack of consequences for those who parroted his lies — including hundreds of Republican candidates in this year’s election.

另一部分人认为问题始于2016年大选，特朗普输掉了公民投票却赢得了选举，后来在2020年大选中，他拒绝接受失败，一些人重复他的谎言，包括今年大选中的数百名共和党候选人，他们这样做却没有被追究后果。

特朗普挑战了美国的诸多民主规范。 Damon Winter/The New York Times

“A lot of people imagined that Trump was this sort of idiosyncratic one-off and once he was gone, he was no longer president, everything would click back into normal gear,” said Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s center-right prime minister when Mr. Trump took office. “And that’s clearly not the case.”

“很多人都认为特朗普是那种特殊的很难再来一次的人物，一旦离任，不再担任总统，一切都会恢复正常，”马尔科姆·特恩布尔说，他在特朗普任期担任澳大利亚中右翼总理。“显然情况并非如此。”

“It’s like watching a family member, for whom you have enormous affection, engage in self-harm,” Mr. Turnbull added. “It’s distressing.”

“这就像看着一个你深爱着的家庭成员做出自残行为，”特恩布尔补充道。“令人痛心。”

Other countries do things differently.

Canada has undertaken steady changes to improve its election system. In 1920, the country put federal elections under the control of an independent official who does not report to any government or politicians and who has the power to punish rule breakers. Responsibility for setting electoral boundaries was turned over to 10 similarly independent commissions, one for every province, in 1964.

加拿大为改善选举制度采取了稳步改革措施。1920年，该国将联邦选举置于一名独立官员 的控制之下，该官员不向任何政府或政界人士报告，并有权惩罚违规者。1964年，确定选举边界 的责任移交给了10个类似的独立委员会，每个省一个。

Taiwan and more than a dozen countries have also established independent bodies to draw voting districts and ensure that votes are cast and counted uniformly and fairly.

台湾以及十几个国家也成立了独立的机构来划定选区，确保投票和计票的统一和公平。

The approach is not foolproof. Nigeria, Pakistan and Jordan all have independent election commissions. Many of their elections have still failed to be free and trusted.

该方法并非万无一失。尼日利亚、巴基斯坦和约旦都有独立的选举委员会。他们的许多选举仍然无法做到自由可信。

But in the places where studies show that turnout and satisfaction with the process are highest, elections are run by national bodies designed to be apolitical and inclusive. More than 100 countries have some form of compulsory or automatic voter registration ; in general, democracies have been making it easier to vote in recent years, not more difficult.

但是，在研究表明投票率和对选举过程的满意度最高的地方，选举是由非政治性和具包容性的国家机构组织管理的。100多个国家有某种形式的强制或自动选民登记 ；总的来说，近年来，民主国家让投票变得更便利，而不是更困难。

The world’s healthiest democracies also have stricter limits on campaign donations — in Canada, political donations by corporations and unions are banned, as are political action campaigns to promote parties or candidates. And many democracies have embraced change.

世界上最健康的民主国家对竞选捐款也有着更严格的限制——在加拿大，公司和工会的政治捐款遭到禁止，推广政党或候选人的政治行动宣传也被禁止。而且许多民主国家已经接受了改革。

相比几十年前，加拿大人的观点急剧转变，几乎普遍认为他们的选举制度比美国的要好。 Mark Blinch/Reuters

New Zealand overhauled its electoral system in the 1990s with a referendum, after elections in which the party with the most votes failed to win a parliamentary majority. South Africa is pursuing changes to its political-party-based electoral system to make it easier for independent candidates to run and win.

新西兰在1990年代通过全民投票，对选举制度进行了全面改革，此前的选举中，得票最多的政党未能赢得议会多数。南非正在寻求改变以政党为基础的选举制度，让独立候选人更容易竞选和获胜。

Such systemic change would be possible in the United States only with overwhelming consensus in Congress, and even then, it may be out of the question in a country where campaign financing is protected as freedom of speech and states cherish their authority over elections in a federal system designed to be a bulwark against autocratic abuses.

美国只有在国会达成压倒性共识的情况下才有可能进行这种系统性变革，但即便有这样的共识也毫无变革的可能，在美国，竞选资金作为言论自由受到保护，并且各州珍视其在联邦制度中的选举权威，而该制度旨在成为反对专制滥用职权的堡垒。

Jennifer McCoy, a political scientist at Georgia State University who co-wrote a recent report on how polarized countries have depolarized in the past, said partisan divisions have kept the United States stuck in place, but so has myopia: Americans rarely look abroad for ideas.

佐治亚州立大学政治学家詹妮弗·麦考伊最近与他人共同撰写 了一份关于两极分化国家过去如何去极化的报告，她说使美国陷入困境的不止党派之争，还有缺乏远见：美国人很少从国外获取想法。

“We have such a myth around our Constitution and American exceptionalism,” she said. “First it makes people very complacent, and second, it takes leaders a very long time to recognize the risk we’re facing. It means it’s very hard to adapt.”

“围绕我们的宪法和美国例外论存在这样一个迷思，”她说。“首先，它让人们非常自满；其次，领导者需要很长时间才能认识到我们面临的风险。这意味着很难适应。”

Weakening Democracy Worldwide

On a recent morning in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, near a street named after Lenin during the Soviet Union’s occupation, a group of demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags and posters calling for an end to Russian aggression.

最近的一个早晨，在立陶宛首都维尔纽斯一条苏联占领时期以列宁命名的街道附近，一群示威者挥舞着乌克兰国旗和海报，呼吁结束俄罗斯的侵略。

Lithuania is a staunch U.S. ally and vocal supporter of Ukraine’s fight for self-determination, but even among the most committed, doubts about the strength and future of American-led democracy are common.

立陶宛是美国的坚定盟友，也是乌克兰争取自决权的坚定支持者，但即使在最坚定的支持者中，对于美国领导的民主的力量和未来，也存在普遍的怀疑。

3月，立陶宛维尔纽斯举行的波罗的海三国升旗仪式。 Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times

Arkadijus Vinokuras, 70, is an actor and activist who helps organize the rallies. Asked what came to mind when he heard the phrase “American democracy,” he responded with a slogan: “America is the defender of global democracy and the guarantor of the vitality of Western democracies!”

70岁的阿尔卡迪耶斯·维诺库拉斯是演员和活动人士, 帮助组织了这次集会。当被问及听到“美国民主”这个词，他想到了什么时，他用一句口号回应道：“美国是全球民主的捍卫者，也是西方民主活力的保障者！”

That was how it seemed 20 years ago — then came Putin, Trump and a divided America.

在20年前似乎是这样——然后出现了普京、特朗普和一个分裂的美国。

“Now,” he said, “even the biggest fan of the U.S. has to ask the question: How could this happen to the guarantor of democracy?”

“现在，”他说，“即使是美国最忠实的粉丝也不得不问这样一个问题：这种事怎么会发生在民主的保障者身上?”

It’s a common query in countries that once looked up to the United States.

在那些曾经敬仰美国的国家，这是一个经常听到的问题。

On Thursday, in the political science department at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, half a dozen graduate students gathered in a professor’s office to debate whether elections could be stolen in America.

周四，在塞内加尔达喀尔的谢赫安塔迪奥普大学政治系，六名研究生聚集在一位教授的办公室里，讨论美国的选举是否会被窃取。

“You take the U.S. democracy after Trump, no doubt that it’s weaker,” said Souleymane Cissé, a 23-year-old graduate student.

23岁的研究生苏莱曼·西塞说：“特朗普之后的美国民主，毫无疑问更弱了。”

Some of the world’s leaders have taken advantage of that perceived weakness. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, elected leaders with autocratic tendencies, have praised Mr. Trump and his wing of the Republican Party.

世界上的一些领导人利用了这一显而易见的弱点。土耳其总统埃尔多安和匈牙利总理维克托是选举产生的具有独裁倾向的领导人，他们赞扬特朗普和他所在的共和党。

8月，达拉斯，匈牙利总理维克托在保守政治行动会议上。 Emil Lippe for The New York Times

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has pursued a Hindu nationalist agenda, leading to accusations of democratic backsliding , now insists that the West is in no position to pressure any country over democratic benchmarks.

在印度，总理莫迪奉行印度教民族主义议程，曾被指责导致民主倒退 ，他现在坚称，西方没有资格就民主基准问题向任何国家施压。

From Myanmar to Mali, leaders of military coups have also found that they can subvert democracy without significant international pushback.

从缅甸到马里，军事政变的领导人也发现，他们可以在没有重大国际阻力的情况下颠覆民主。

“If you’re an autocrat or wannabe autocrat, the price that you pay is much less than the price that you used to pay 30 years ago,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora, a former vice president of Costa Rica who heads the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance , a pro-democracy group with 34 member states. “And that’s partly because of the U.S.”

“如果你是一个独裁者或想成为独裁者，你付出的代价比30年前要小得多，”哥斯达黎加前副总统凯文·卡萨斯-萨莫拉说，他现在领导着国际民主与选举援助协会 ，这是一个拥有34个成员国的民主支持团体。“这在一定程度上是因为美国。”

Even reformers are starting to wonder what they can reasonably expect of their most high-minded institutions. In South Africa, when a new chief justice was appointed a few months ago, there were questions about whether the court was apolitical or even could be.

就连改革者也开始怀疑，他们对本国最崇高的机构能有什么合理的期待。在南非，几个月前，当一位新的首席大法官被任命时，人们对法院是否非政治化，甚至能否非政治化产生了疑问。

All these countries, and more, are confronting an enormous challenge that America has made more visible: antidemocratic actors, inside democracies.

所有这些国家，以及更多的国家，都面临着一个巨大的挑战，那就是民主国家内部的反民主分子，而美国让这个挑战变得更加显而易见。

Mr. Vinokuras said that Lithuania and its neighbors had been more resistant to such forces because they can see where they lead by looking next door.

维诺库拉斯说，立陶宛及其邻国对这种力量的抵抗力更强，因为他们可以通过观察邻国知道自己会走向何方。

“The fact that unbridled populism in the Baltic States is not yet gaining ground is, I repeat, because of fascist Russia,” he said.

他说：“在波罗的海国家，肆无忌惮的民粹主义还没有抬头，我再说一遍，那是因为法西斯主义的俄罗斯。”

8月，拉脱维亚里拉，一处苏联时期纪念物拆除现场。 Kaspar Krafts/F64, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What democracies need, he added, are investments in improvements — the best ideas, no matter where they come from — and a strong commitment to ostracizing those who violate rules and norms.

他还说，民主国家需要的是对改进的投资——一切最好的想法，无论它们来自哪里——以及对排除违反规则及规范者的坚定承诺。

“In general, democracy has degenerated, it has become useless,” he said. “It’s become more like anarchy. Unlimited tolerance for everything destroys the foundations of democracy.”

“总的来说，民主已经退化，变得毫无用处，”他说。“它变得更像是无政府状态。对一切事物的无限容忍破坏了民主的基础。”

In Taiwan, many people made a similar point: The threat from China makes democracy more precious, helping people remember that its benefits can be realized only through shared connections across divides.

在台湾，许多人也提出了类似的观点：来自中国的威胁使民主更加珍贵，帮助人们记住，民主的好处只有通过跨越分歧的共同联系才能实现。

“If a country is going to keep moving forward,” Mr. Lin said, “the leaders of both parties should play the role of a bridge.”

“如果一个国家要继续向前发展，”林炜轩说，“两党领导人都应该起到桥梁的作用。”

Ian Austen自新斯科舍省哈利法克斯、Tomas Dapkus自立陶宛维尔纽斯、Amy Chang Chien自台北、Elian Peltier自塞内加尔达喀尔、Lynsey Chutel自约翰内斯堡、Natasha Frost自新西兰奥克兰，Sameer Yasir自新德里对本文有报道贡献。

Damien Cave是时报澳大利亚悉尼分社社长。他此前曾在墨西哥城、哈瓦那、贝鲁特和巴格达报道新闻。自2004年加入《纽约时报》以来，他还担任过国内新闻副主编、迈阿密分社社长和纽约市记者。欢迎在Twitter上关注他：@damiencave 。

翻译：纽约时报中文网