从特权到普遍性权利:美国公民选举权的扩大

From Privilege to Universal Right:On the Extension of American Suffrage

在美国殖民地时期,政治参与是占社会少数的富裕的成年白人男性基督徒的特权。公民的选举权受到了种种限制,主要包括财产资格限制、宗教资格限制、种族限制、性别限制、年龄限制、居住地和居住时间限制、甚至品行限制等。在后来的历史发展过程中,在战争以及社会运动的冲击下,对选举权的不合理限制被逐渐废除,使选举权由少数人享有的特权转变为所有成年美国人普遍享有的一项权利。美国在废除选举权的财产资格限制、确立成年男性选举权方面走在世界各国的前面,然而它却是最后一个实现真正普选权的发达资本主义国家。然而,在当代美国,在选举权扩大的同时,公民政治参与的热情与程度却持续降低。这是美国公民选举权扩大过程中出现的一个发人深思的悖论。

In colonial America, suffrage was privilege enjoyed by a minority of white male propertied Christians. There existed various qualifications of the privilege, like property, religion, race, sex, age, residence, and even moral behavior. Under the impact of wars and social movements in the course of American history, muea^nable qualifications had been eliminated and the suffrage as a privilege has become a universal right enjoyed by every adult American. The United States took the lead in abolishing the property tp~,~lifications and in the establishment of manhood suffa＇age. However, it is the last developed country to realize uni- versal suffrage. In contemporary America, the extension of the suffrage does not always deepen the extent of political participation. The percentage of the citizens participating in the presidential elections has been incessantly decreased.