and trying to make sense of it for the last year or so,

如果過去一年你曾思索過美國政治，

you might have hit on something like the following three propositions:

並嘗試理解它、將它合理化，

one, US partisanship has never been so bad before;

你腦袋可能會出現以下三個論點：

two,

第一，美國黨派之爭 從來沒這麼亂過；

for the first time, it's geographically spatialized --

第二，

we're divided between the coasts, which want to look outwards,

美國首次出現了地域差異──

and the center of the country, which wants to look inwards;

我們彼此分化著── 住在沿岸地區的人們向外看，

and third,

而居住在內陸地區的人們視野向內；

there's nothing we can do about it.

第三，

I'm here to today to say that all three of these propositions,

我們對此無能為力。

all of which sound reasonable,

今天在這

are not true.

我想告訴各位，

In fact,

也許這三個論點聽起來合理， 但並不是真的。

our US partisanship goes all the way back

事實上，

to the very beginning of the republic.

美國黨派之爭可追溯至

It was geographically spatialized in almost eerily the same way

最早的共和民主制政體。

that it is today,

當時的地域差異，

and it often has been throughout US history.

與今天幾乎相同。

And last,

這現象貫穿著美國歷史。

and by far most importantly,

最後一點，

we actually have an extraordinary mechanism

也是到目前最重要的一點，

that's designed to help us manage factional disagreement and partisanship.

我們其實擁有一個非凡的機制，

That technology is the Constitution.

用於協助我們管理 分歧的意見與黨系之爭。

And this is an evolving, subtly, supplely designed entity

這個機制被稱之為「憲法」。

that has the specific purpose

這是一項不斷革新、微妙、 精良的設計實體，

of teaching us how to manage factional disagreement

它獨特的用意在於

where it's possible to do that,

指導我們處理意見分歧，

and giving us techniques for overcoming that disagreement

的確可能可以處理，

when that's possible.

同時給了我們解決分歧的工具，

Now, in order to tell you the story,

在可能的情況下。

I want to go back to a pivotal moment in US history,

現在，為了給你們講這個故事，

and that is the moment

我想回顧一下 一個美國史上的關鍵時刻，

when factional disagreement and partisanship was born.

而正是那時刻，

There actually was a birth moment --

出現了分歧的意見以及黨派的誕生。

a moment in US history when partisanship snapped into place.

在美國史中這時刻

The person who's at the core of that story is James Madison.

正是黨派誕生到位的時刻。

And at the moment that this began,

詹姆斯·麥迪遜是故事的核心人物。

James Madison was riding high.

在故事開始，

He himself was the Einstein of not only the US Constitution,

詹姆斯·麥迪遜處在巔峰時段。

but of constitutional thought more globally,

麥迪遜不只是美國憲法的創始者，

and, to give him his due,

也將憲政思想傳播到世界，

he knew it.

說句公道話，

In a period of time of just three years,

他知道。

from 1785 to 1788,

在短短的三年之中，

he had conceived, theorized, designed, passed and gotten ratified

1785-1788 年間，

the US Constitution.

他從構想、理論化、設計、通過，

And just to give you some sense of the enormity

並得到批准，完成了美國憲法。

of what that accomplishment actually was,

我想讓各位理解他所完成的巨作

although Madison couldn't have known it at the time,

有多麼的深遠與偉大，

today that same constitutional technology that he invented is still in use

雖然麥迪遜當時不可能未卜先知，

not only in the US,

直到今日，他所投入的憲法實體，

but, 230 years later,

不只美國仍然實行著，

in places like Canada,

在 230 年後，

India,

許多地方如加拿大、

South Africa,

印度、

Brazil.

南非、

So in an extraordinary range of contexts all over the world,

巴西都在用。

this technology is still the dominant,

對全世界影響如此深遠，

most used, most effective technology to manage governance.

今天這項巨作仍占主導地位，

In that moment,

對於管理統治上，仍是最頻繁使用 也是最有效的一項技術。

Madison believed that, having solved this problem,

當時，

the country would run smoothly,

麥迪遜相信如果解決了這個問題，

and that he had designed a technology

這個國家會運轉的更順利，

that would minimize the results of factions

因此他設計了這項技術，

so there would be no political parties.

使派系紛爭傷害降到最小，

Remarkably, he thought he had designed a constitution

也就不會有政黨的出現了。

that was against political parties

很顯然的，他認為他所設計的憲法

and would make them unnecessary.

是不利於政黨的，

He had gotten an enormous degree of help

也會使政黨成為不必要。

in the final marketing phase of his constitutional project

他在最後推廣憲法階段

from a man you may have heard of, called Alexander Hamilton.

得到了某人莫大的幫助，

Now, Hamilton was everything Madison was not.

而這人你可能聽過， 亞歷山大·漢密爾頓。

He was passionate, where Madison was restrained.

漢密爾頓、麥迪遜兩人 天性可說是南轅北轍。

He was pansexual,

漢密爾頓充滿熱情激昂， 而麥迪遜則是嚴謹拘束，

where Madison didn't speak to a woman expect for once

漢密爾頓男女老幼通吃，

until he was 42 years old,

麥迪遜則從沒跟女人說過話，

and then married Dolley and lived happily ever after for 40 years.

直到他 42 歲那年，

(Laughter)

因此娶了朵莉為妻， 並幸福過了 40 年。

To put it bluntly,

（笑聲）

Hamilton's the kind of person

簡而言之，

about whom you would write a hip-hop musical --

漢密爾頓是

(Laughter)

那種會使你譜出嘻哈音樂劇的人──

and Madison is the kind of person

（笑聲）

about whom you would not write a hip-hop musical.

而麥迪遜是那種

(Laughter)

無法將他譜進嘻哈音樂劇的人。

Or indeed, a musical of any kind at all.

（笑聲）

But together,

或是，任何種類的音樂劇都不行。

they had become a rather unlikely pairing,

但是他們兩人搭檔一起時，

and they had produced the Federalist Papers,

他們配合的天衣無縫，

which offered a justification

他們共同創造出《聯邦論》，

and, as I mentioned,

也因此給了──

a marketing plan for the Constitution,

就如我先前所提到的，

which had been wildly effective and wildly successful.

憲法行銷計畫的理由。

Once the new government was in place,

結果十分有效、十分成功。

Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury,

當新的政府就任時，

and he had a very specific idea in mind.

漢密爾頓當上了財政部部長，

And that was

當時他心頭湧上一個特別的想法。

to do for financial institutions and infrastructure

那就是

exactly what Madison had done for constitutions.

實行金融機構以及基礎建設，

Again, his contemporaries all knew it.

就像麥迪遜為憲法所做的一樣。

One of them told Madison,

而同僚得知後，

who can't have liked it very much,

其中一個人告訴麥迪遜，

that Hamilton was the Newton of infrastructure.

他不可能願意看到

The idea was pretty straightforward.

漢密爾頓成為基礎建設的初始者。

Hamilton would give the United States a national bank,

他的想法相當簡單明確。

a permanent national debt --

漢密爾頓將給美國一間中央銀行，

he said it would be "immortal," his phrase --

一筆永久的國債──

and a manufacturing policy that would enable trade and manufacturing

他說這將會「成為永恆」，

rather than agriculture,

而他所制定的產業政策， 將使貿易和製造業

which was where the country's primary wealth had historically been.

超越農業

Madison went utterly ballistic.

這項歷史上國家首要財務來源。

And in this pivotal, critical decision,

麥迪遜極力反駁。

instead of just telling the world that his old friend Hamilton was wrong

在這至關重要決定中，

and was adopting the wrong policies,

除了告訴眾人他的老友 漢密爾頓是錯誤的，

he actually began to argue

並實施著錯誤的決策，

that Hamilton's ideas were unconstitutional --

他還開始爭論

that they violated the very nature of the Constitution

漢密爾頓的想法有違憲法的概念──

that the two of them had drafted together.

違反了他們當初一起起草的

Hamilton responded the way you would expect.

憲法其本質。

He declared Madison to be his "personal and political enemy" --

漢密爾頓的回應就如我們預期，

these are his words.

他宣稱麥迪遜是 「我個人也是政治上的敵人」──

So these two founders who had been such close friends and such close allies

這是他親口說的。

and such partners,

這兩位開國元勳人曾是 如此友好、如此親密的盟友、

then began to produce enmity.

如此有默契的夥伴，

And they did it in the good, old-fashioned way.

最後彼此產生了敵意。

First, they founded political parties.

他們的做法很老派，

Madison created a party originally called the Democratic Republican Party --

首先他們各別成立了黨派。

"Republican" for short --

麥迪遜成立的黨派 原本稱為「民主共和黨」，

and Hamilton created a party called the Federalist Party.

後來簡稱為「共和黨」，

Those two parties adopted positions on national politics

而漢密爾頓建立了「聯邦黨。」

that were extreme and exaggerated.

這兩個黨派所擁護的國家政治立場

To give you a clear example:

十分誇張的極端。

Madison, who had always believed

以下一個例子：

that the country would have some manufacturing and some trade

麥迪遜的想法是

and some agriculture,

一個國家不單單 只發展貿易與製造業，

began attacking Hamilton

農業也必須概括在內，

as a kind of tool of the financial markets

所以他開始攻擊漢密爾頓，

whom Hamilton himself intended to put in charge of the country.

說他是金融市場的工具，

That was an overstatement,

而漢密爾頓打算控制國家。

but it was something Madison came to believe.

雖然聽起來誇張，

He also attacked city life,

但這的確是麥迪遜所相信的。

and he said that the coasts were corrupt,

麥迪遜同時也攻擊城市的生活型態，

and what people needed to do was to look inwards

他認為沿岸正在腐敗，

to the center of the country,

人民應該向內陸看，

to farmers, who were the essence of Republican virtue,

應該更關心國家的中心，

and they should go back to the values that had made American great,

應該注重農民， 即共和黨美德的精髓。

specifically the values of the Revolution,

同時也應該注重 使美國人偉大的核心價值，

and those were the values of low taxes,

尤其是革命的價值觀，

agriculture

即低稅收，

and less trade.

看重農業，

Hamilton responded to this by saying that Madison was naïve,

同時減少貿易。

that he was childish,

漢密爾頓回應說麥迪遜是如此天真，

and that his goal was to turn the United States

同時也很幼稚，

into a primitive autarchy,

他的目標是將美國轉變成為

self-reliant and completely ineffectual on the global scale.

一個守舊獨裁專制，

(Laughter)

一個自給自足， 對全球毫無影響力的國家。

They both meant it,

（笑聲）

and there was some truth to each of their claims,

他們都是認真的，

because each side was grossly exaggerating the views of the other

他們各自的主張中也許有些事實，

in order to fight their war.

這樣說是因為兩邊為了打贏，

They founded newspapers,

都把對方的言詞誇大。

and so for the first time in US history,

隨後他們各自成立報社，

the news that people received came entirely through the lens

也是美國歷史上頭遭

of either the Republican or the Federalist party.

人們所接收到的新聞來源

How does this end?

不是出自共和黨，就是聯邦黨。

Well, as it turned out, the Constitution did its work.

這最後是如何收場的？

But it did its work in surprising ways

結果是，憲法呈現出它的功效，

that Madison himself had not fully anticipated.

而且是以出乎意料的方式呈現，

First, there was a series of elections.

麥迪遜本身並沒有完全料到。

And the first two times out of the box,

首先是一連串的選舉。

the Federalists destroyed the Republicans.

頭兩次讓人跌破眼鏡，

Madison was astonished.

聯邦黨打敗了共和黨。

Of course, he blamed the press.

麥迪遜極為錯愕。

(Laughter)

當然，他責怪媒體。

And in a rather innovative view --

（笑聲）

Madison never failed to innovate when he thought about anything --

他提出一個相當創新的觀點──

he said the reason that the press was so pro-Federalist

不管做任何事麥迪遜 總是以創新的觀點出發──

is that the advertisers were all Federalists,

他說媒體之所以都支持聯邦黨，

because they were traders on the coasts who got their capital from Britain,

是因為廣告商都是聯邦黨人，

which Federalism was in bed with.

因為他們是住在沿岸的貿易商， 他們從英國拿資金，

That was his initial explanation.

而英國是聯邦黨人的老相好。

But despite the fact that the Federalists,

以上是他一開始的解釋。

once in power,

儘管聯邦黨

actually enacted laws that criminalized criticism of the government --

一上台之後，

that happened in the United States --

就制定法條，將批評政府列為非法──

nevertheless,

美國也發生過這種事──

the Republicans fought back,

然而

and Madison began to emphasize the freedom of speech,

共和黨反擊，

which he had built into the Bill of Rights,

麥迪遜開始強調言論自由，

and the capacity of civil society

並將言論自由納入權利法案中，

to organize.

同時也允許

And sure enough, nationally,

民間社會組織的成立。

small local groups -- they were called Democratic-Republican Societies --

所以當然，在全國各地

began to form and protest against Federalist-dominated hegemony.

就有一群小型的地方組織， 他們稱之為民主—共和主義社會，

Eventually, the Republicans managed to win a national election --

開始形成並反擊聯邦黨的霸權。

that was in 1800.

最後，共和黨贏得全國的選舉，

Madison became the Secretary of State,

那是 1800 年。

his friend and mentor Jefferson became president,

麥迪遜也成為了國家的國務卿，

and they actually, over time,

而他的朋友同時也是導師 傑佛遜成為了美國總統，

managed to put the Federalists completely out of business.

隨著時間推移，

That was their goal.

他們真的讓聯邦黨完全消失。

Now, why did that happen?

這是他們的目標。

It happened because in the structure of the Constitution

而為什麼會這樣？

were several features that actually managed faction

這是由於憲法的架構中，

the way there were supposed to do in the first place.

其中有幾項特點 確實可以管理黨派的分歧，

What were those?

在故事一開始的時候就應該實行了。

One -- most important of all --

這些特點是什麼呢？

the freedom of speech.

第一，也是最重要的一點，

This was an innovative idea at the time.

言論自由。

Namely, that if you were out of power,

在當時這是一個新思維。

you could still say that the government was terrible.

換句話說，當你失去政權時，

Two,

你仍有權力說政府的不好。

civil society organization.

第二點，

The capacity to put together private groups, individuals,

民間社會組織。

political parties and others

不管是組織私人團體或是聚眾，

who would organize to try to bring about fundamental change.

或是成立政黨等等，

Perhaps most significantly was the separation of powers --

會帶來本質上的改變。

an extraordinary component of the Constitution.

也許最重要的是權力分立──

The thing about the separation of powers

這是憲法中非凡的組成。

is that it did then and it does now,

關於權力分立，

drive governance to the center.

不管是當時或是現在，

You can get elected to office in the United States

都將治理推向中間。

with help from the periphery,

在美國你可以 藉由邊陲的支持當選上台，

right or left.

不管是偏右或是偏左。

It turns out,

然而結果是，

you actually can't govern unless you bring on board the center.

除非你注重中間，否則無法治理。

There are midterm elections that come incredibly fast

總統就位後，

after a presidency begins.

期中選舉很快就到了，

Those drive presidents towards the center.

也因此使總統一定要著重中間。

There's a structure in which the president, in fact, does not rule

事實上在這架構中，總統並不統治

or even govern,

或是管理，

but can only propose laws which other people have to agree with --

但只能提案， 而且必須獲得其他人同意──

another feature that tends to drive presidents

這是另一個架構特色，

who actually want to get things done

驅使總統

to the center.

將心力放在中間。

And a glance at the newspapers today will reveal to you

在今日的報紙中你仍可以發現

that these principles are still completely in operation.

這些原則今日依然運行著。

No matter how a president gets elected,

無論一個總統是如何選上的，

the president cannot get anything done

總統在沒有遵循憲法前提下

unless the president first of all follows the rules of the Constitution,

是什麼都無法完成的。

because if not,

若沒有遵循憲法，

the courts will stand up, as indeed has sometimes occurred,

法院會發聲並採取一些措施，

not only recently, but in the past, in US history.

這不是現在才有的， 而是從過去美國歷史延續到現在。

And furthermore,

此外，

the president needs people,

總統需要人民，

elected officials who know they need to win election

民選官員都知道他們需要

from centrist voters,

中間選民以贏得選舉，

also to back his or her policies in order to pass laws.