为谁讲故事:美国两党的国家叙事之争

Telling Stories for Whom:American Partisan Contention Over National Narratives

美国正深陷一场“冷内战”之中,极化与统一国家故事的衰败同步发生,围绕“谁是美国人”,美国正在呼唤一种新的国家故事。在人口结构持续变化,社会经济不平等难以扭转,新媒体技术不断发展,保守主义和自由主义出现重大分歧的背景下,两党聚焦种族议题,在国家叙事上全面差异化,更趋极端化,以对历史叙事的争夺为核心,将选举、执法、教育等多个议题广泛勾连。2022年中期选举中两党不断调整自身叙事策略,共和党将矛头对准“批判种族理论”,动员独立选民中的家长选民;民主党则延续“反白人至上”叙事,借堕胎议题转移选民焦点。由于“美国梦”故事的失效与“盎格鲁-撒克逊”故事的弱化,今后两党围绕国家故事的争斗仍将长期延续。其带来的结果是对内群体间敌意不断加深,社会矛盾显著增加,经济阶级矛盾被政治话语遮蔽;对外将分散美国用于国际事务的力量,美国模式吸引力下降,美国更难借白人文明拉拢组建“盎格鲁-撒克逊联盟”。

The United States is in the midst of an internal“cold civil war,'where polarization occurs in tandem with the decay of a unified national story.America is calling for a new national story around the question of who is American.In the context of continuous demographic change,irreversible socio-economic inequality,continuous development of new media technology,and major differences between conservatism and liberalism,the two major political parties focus on racial issues,comprehensively differentiated,and more polarized national narratives.Focusing on competing historical narratives,the parties have linked national narratives with elections,law enforcement,education and other issues.In the 2022 midterm elections,both parties continued to adjust their narrative strategies.The Republicans targeted“critical race theory"to mobilize independent voters,while the Democrats continued the“anti-white supremacy"narrative,using the abortion issue to divert voters'attention.Due to the decline of the“American dream"story and the weakening of the“"Anglo-Saxon"story,the competition over national narratives between the two parties will continue for a long time.As a result,in the United States,the hostility between groups is deepening,the social contradiction around resource allocation is increasing significantly,and the political discourse overshadows the economic class contradiction.This narrative competition also distracts American power in international affairs,makes the American model less attractive,and makes it more difficult for the United States to form a“white Anglo alliance".