内战前美国南部白人民主政治的发展与政治权力的归属

The growth of the White democracy and location of political power in the antebellum American south

美国的政治制度在内战之前的半个多世纪发生了重大变革,其显著标志是废除了选举权和担任官职的财产资格限制,确立了白人男性成人的选举权和担任官职资格,在制度上确立了白人民主制。然而在美国南部蓄奴州,奴隶制的社会整合作用导致政治权力落入奴隶主利益集团的掌控之中。这样,法制上的白人民主制在实际政治世界中就蜕变成了奴隶主统治。在内战前的南部政治世界中,在总体上奴隶主政治人物担当着领导角色,广大非奴隶主大众是奴隶主在政治活动中的附庸。

In the antebellum period American political system experienced big changes marked by the abolish of property qualifications for vote and office-holding, the establishment of adult whitemen suffrage. White democracy was confirmed in law and in form. Yet in political reality of southern slave states, owing to the functioning of slavery the political power fell into the hands of the White slaveholding interests. Thus the southern White democracy became a kind of slavecracy. The slaveholding politicians acted as political leaders in the antebellum southern society, while the nonslaveholding White mass played a submissive role in politics.