社会安全与美国保守派领导人的政治编织术

Social Security and the Political Integration of America's Conservative Leaders

特朗普自2022年底美国中期选举以来展现的“聚旗效应”,展示了其突破“保守派困境”的能力,他“既能要来富人的钱,又能拿来穷人的票”。但中下层白人选民为什么要投票给一个“财阀”政党?针对这一问题,一直以来,人们聚焦于共和党对种族主义文化政策的操控,即以种族问题替代阶级问题,以及通过激起白人工人阶级的怨恨助推有利于高收入白人的政策。但种族主义议题在政治上当然是不正确的,于是诉诸白人选民“社会不安全感”的议题,就成为美国保守主义领导者借以合理化其种族主义政策的抓手。这也正是美国保守派领导者的政治编织术:一方面,坚持维护财阀利益的财税政策;另一方面,借助社会安全的政策框架绑定“沉默的大多数”。自1970年代以来,共和党社会安全策略的外延不断扩展,囊括了三代“沉默的大多数”:从白人蓝领工人阶级扩容到白人低收入白领,再到破产的白人中产阶级。这既体现了特朗普主义由来已久的泛在影响,也显示了社会安全问题对当代美国政治议程的巨大塑造力。

Trump's“flag-gathering effect”since the midterm elections in the U.S.at the end of 2022 demonstrates his ability to break through the“conservative dilemma”by“asking for the money of the rich and bringing in the votes of the poor”.But why would lower-middle-class white voters vote for a“plutocratic”party?In response to this question,the focus has been on the Republican Party's manipulation of racist cultural policies,i.e.,replacing class issues with race issues and promoting policies that favor high-income whites by stoking white working-class resentment.But racist issues are,of course,politically incorrect,so social security issues,which appeal to the“social insecurity”of white voters,have become the grip through which American conservative leaders rationalize their racist policies.This is also the political integration of American conservative leaders:on the one hand,they insist on fiscal policies that protect the interests of the plutocracy,and on the other hand,they bind the“silent majority”through the policy framework of social security.Since the 1970s,the outreach of the Republican social security strategy has expanded to include three generations of the“silent majority”:from the white blue-collar working class to the white lowincome white collar to the bankrupt white middle class.This reflects both the long-standing pervasive influence of Trumpism and the enormous power of social security issues to shape the contemporary American political agenda.