20世纪50年代的罗森堡案与美国自由民主理念的窘境

The Rosenberg Case of the 1950s and the Dilemma of the Idea of the American Liberal Democracy

1951年,美国政府在缺乏确凿证据的情况下,以间谍罪判决罗森堡夫妇死刑,引发国内外舆论高度关注。罗森堡案折射出20世纪50年代初美国人内心深处的焦虑与恐惧,反映出社会各界人士在如何确保法律的公平与公正,保障国家权力行使的正当性,以及维护公民权利和国家声誉等问题上的思考与实践。在证据不足的情况下对罗森堡夫妇执行死刑,体现出冷战意识形态强大作用下所形成的政治偏执性取向。该判决的执行非但没有达到彰显美国对苏联“强硬形象”的目的,反而导致西方部分国家对美国自由理念和“领导地位”产生质疑。这从一个侧面说明冷战初期美国所宣扬的自由、民主、法制等理念与现实政治之间存在着巨大差异。

The Rosenbergs were sentenced to death for espionage without adequate evidence in 1951,which attracted great attention by the public opinion both at home and abroad. This case showed the anxiety and fear of the Americans in the early 1950s,reflecting on thoughts and practices of how to ensure the justice of the law,safeguard the legitimacy of the administrative power,and secure the citizen’s rights and the state reputation. The execution of the Rosenbergs indicated the political paranoid developed by the ideology of the Cold War. It failed to highlight the ‘tough image’of the United States against the Soviet Union,but led some Western countries to question the idea of the American liberty,which showed the huge gap between the advocated idea of the American liberty and ‘leadership’and real politics in early Cold War.