VOA常速英语207--美国政府为何三权分立？

Certain aspects of the United States government are unique, none more so that the law of the land, the United States Constitution. Drafted in 1787 and ratified¹ in 1789, it is the oldest such written document in continual use, and one that has influenced legal thinking and other constitutions around the globe.

美国政府的一些组成方面是独一无二的，其中，美国的根本大法《宪法》当属最特别的一个方面。美国《宪法》起草于1787年，1789年审批通过，它是目前仍在使用的此类文件中历史最悠久的一个，同时也对全球的法律思维和其他国家宪法的制定产生了影响。

The Constitution's preamble², or introduction, begins with the words “We the People,” indicating that although the document was written to establish a national government, the government itself was set up to serve the people, and derives³ its power from them.

美国宪法的序言部分以“我们合众国人民”开头，表明虽然撰写《宪法》是为了设立美国政府，但政府本身设立的目的是为了服务人民，其权力也来自于人民。

The body of the Document sets out the balance and separation of power among the three branches of the Government: the Legislative⁴, or law-making branch that is the U.S. Congress, the Executive branch which is headed by the President, and the Judiciary, which interprets the law at every level and settles legal disputes regarding the meaning and the application of the law. The idea was that no one branch of the government would be able to gain a disproportionate amount of power.

《宪法》的主体部分陈述了美国政府三权分立的制衡机制：立法分支负责制定法律——美国国会，行政分支——总统，司法分支负责解释各个层级的法律，并处理因法律规定的含义和实施所引起的法律争议。三权分立的初衷是政府的任何分支都无法拥有过大权力。

Having just won a war to rid themselves of an authoritarian⁵ government, the Framers of the Constitution were above all careful to create a national government that would not, could not wield⁶ absolute power, but at the same time, could not be superseded⁷ by individual states.

在刚刚赢得美国独立战争的胜利并得以摆脱一个独裁政府后，美国宪法的制定者们极度谨慎，想要创建一个不会也无法行使绝对权力的国家政府，但同时这个政府的权力也不会被其各个州所代替。

So, the Constitution defines the states' relationship to the federal government, as well as the rights and responsibilities of state governments. And to ensure the document is flexible enough to stand the test of time, the framers made provisions that allowed for it to be changed, or amended⁸, to reflect changes within society itself.

因此，美国《宪法》规定了各州与联邦政府的关系以及各州政府的权利和义务。同时，为了确保《宪法》的变通性，让其经得起时间的考验，制定者还在宪法中规定允许宪法发生改变、修订、反映社会的变化。

Ironically, this helped the Constitution to overcome its first major hurdle—ratification⁹ by the thirteen states that made up the United States of the time.

出乎意料的是，这一点反而帮助《宪法》攻克了第一个主要障碍——当时所属美国的13个州均通过了《宪法》。

That's because the populace, which had just freed itself from shackles¹⁰ imposed on it by one government, was loath¹¹ to agree to empowering another such body. Many saw a strong central government as a threat to individual rights. So, to obtain ratification in several vacillating states, ten Amendments¹², collectively named the Bill of Rights, were added.

这是因为刚从一个政府的桎梏中解放出来的普通百姓不愿意再委身于再将权力交给这样的政府。很多人认为，中央政府的强大会威胁到个人权利。于是，为了让几个犹豫不决的州批准《宪法》的通过，又添加了《权利法案》，又称《人权法案》。

In the words of James Madison, who is considered to be the Father of the Constitution, “The people are the only legitimate¹³ fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived¹⁴.”

美国宪法之父詹姆斯麦迪逊(James Madison)说过，“人民是唯一合法的权力来源，正是有了人民，才有了《宪法》，而有了宪法，才有了三权制衡的机制。”

1 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

2 preamble   

n.前言；序文

参考例句：

• He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
• The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。

3 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

6 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

7 superseded   

[医]被代替的，废弃的

参考例句：

• The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
• The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。

8 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

9 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

10 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

11 loath   

adj.不愿意的；勉强的

参考例句：

• The little girl was loath to leave her mother.那小女孩不愿离开她的母亲。
• They react on this one problem very slow and very loath.他们在这一问题上反应很慢，很不情愿。

12 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

13 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

14 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》