美国政治极化中的妥协困境

The Compromise Predicament in American Political Polarization

政治妥协是利益多元化的现代代议制民主得以运行的重要条件,然而在美国政党政治与意识形态高度分化的背景下,其民主运作中的政治妥协遭遇着巨大挑战。当前美国政治中的妥协困境呈现为政治力量的结构性对抗态势,主要表征在支持两党的选民态度中。通过分析“美国国家选举研究”(ANES)等最新数据发现,美国普通选民对于政治妥协的态度高度分化,这一格局受制于政党认同、意识形态、政治精英等因素。其中,年轻的、低收入且意识形态保守的坚定共和党人是最为反对政治妥协的群体,他们同时也构成了2016与2020年大选中共和党候选人特朗普的基本票仓,数据还同时表明在特朗普执政四年后左翼的民主党人也更加趋于不妥协,美国政治妥协困境仍在加剧。当前拜登政府治下的美国,以民主-共和两党为基本载体,社会在各个维度的撕裂已日趋固化,从政治精英到普通民众,妥协的日渐消失是当前美国民主运行面临的重大挑战。

Modern representative democracy depends on political compromise to make it work.Currently,American party politics and ideology are highly polarized,which is a great challenge for the political compromise in American democracy.It is argued in the article that the current compromise predicament in American politics has shown a structural confrontation of political forces,which is mainly manifested in the attitudes of voters who support both parties.By analyzing the recent data from American National Election Studies,the research finds that American voters are polarized on their attitudes toward political compromise,which is affected by their partisanship,ideology and the impacts of political elites.The young and strong republicans with low income and conservative ideology are a group of voters that are mostly against compromise,who are also the voting base for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.Data also shows that the left democrats have become more uncompromising after four years of Trump administration,and the predicament of political compromise in America is still worsening.In the United States under the current Biden administration,with the democracy party and the republican party as the basic carriers,the polarization at every aspect of the society has grown increasingly rigid.The disappearing compromise among both political elites and ordinary voters is becoming a big test for American democracy.