杰利蝾螈：你的选举是如何被操纵的：英语精读讲义

Queen Lion of the animal kingdom is giving more democracy to her citizens

动物王国的狮子女王正在赋予她的公民更多民主，

by adding a legislative branch to the government. 文化背景

通过在政府中增加一个立法机构来实现。

The citizens each get one vote and are divided into ranges. 語法

公民每人有一票，并被划分到不同选区。

Each range will elect one representative

每个选区将选举一名代表

to send to the newly created Jungle Council.

送入新成立的丛林委员会。

To best understand how the system works,

为了更好地理解这个系统是如何运作的，

let's take a look at a small colony where there are just two political parties, 短語搭配

让我们来看一个小小的聚居地，那里只有两个政党，

the buffalo and jackalope.

水牛党和鹿角兔党。

This colony is divided into four ranges.

这个聚居地被分为四个选区。

In the first election,

在第一次选举中，

jackalope candidates win two of them

鹿角兔党的候选人赢得了其中两个选区，

and buffalo candidates win the rest.

而水牛党的候选人赢得了其余的。

All is well for several election cycles 短語搭配

在随后的几个选举周期里一切顺利，

until the animal kingdom census taker comes around 短語動詞

直到动物王国的人口普查员到来，

and shows that the population has both moved and grown. 語法

并指出人口既发生了迁移又有所增长。

To better represent the larger population,

为了更好地代表更多的人口，

a new seat is added to the Jungle Council,

丛林委员会增加了一个新席位，

so the ranges' boundaries must be redrawn.

因此必须重新划分选区的边界。

This is where the trouble begins. 表達脈絡

麻烦就此开始。

Redrawing electoral boundaries is a huge political problem.

重新划分选举边界是一个巨大的政治问题。

To help them,

为了解决这个问题，

the representatives of the Jungle Council hire a weaselly consultant

丛林委员会的代表们聘请了一位像鼬鼠般狡猾的顾问

to figure out where the new boundaries should go. 短語動詞

来决定新边界应该划在哪里。

If Weasel draws rectangular boundaries,

如果鼬鼠划定矩形的边界，

everything will be okay because the Jungle Council will,

一切都会没问题，因为丛林委员会将会

as close as possible, 短語搭配

尽可能地

reflect how the citizens vote.

反映公民的投票结果。

However,

然而，

Weasel doesn't do this.

鼬鼠并没有这样做。

Instead,

相反，

he tells the buffalo party that,

他告诉水牛党，

for a price, 短語搭配

只要付出一点代价，

he can turn their slim majority into a landslide victory in the election. 語法

他就能把他们微弱的多数优势变成选举中的压倒性胜利。

With a super majority on the Jungle Council,

如果在丛林委员会中占据绝对多数，

the buffalo wouldn't have to listen to those pesky jackalope filibusters anymore,

水牛党就不必再听鹿角兔党那些烦人的冗长辩论了，

so the buffalo gladly pay up. 短語動詞

所以水牛党很乐意地付了钱。

How can Weasel deliver on his promise? 短語搭配

鼬鼠如何兑现他的承诺呢？

It's depressingly simple.

这简单得令人沮丧。

By packing together as many jackalope voters into one range as possible 語法

通过将尽可能多的鹿角兔党选民集中到一个选区，

and spreading the rest of them out,

并将其余选民分散开来，

the buffalo party can win an additional seat without any voters switching allegiance. 語法

水牛党无需任何选民改变立场就能赢得一个额外席位。

What Weasel and the buffalo have done is called gerrymandering, 講解

鼬鼠和水牛党所做的被称为“杰利蝾螈”（不公划分选区），

the intentional changing of electoral boundaries for their benefit.

即为了自身利益而蓄意更改选举边界。

Several election cycles later,

几个选举周期后，

the underrepresented and disgruntled jackalope party approaches Weasel

代表性不足且心生不满的鹿角兔党找到了鼬鼠，

and asks if he can manipulate the ranges to be in their favor 短語搭配

询问他是否能把选区操纵得对他们有利，

instead of in the buffaloes.

而不是对水牛有利。

Why, indeed, he can. 語氣意圖

当然，他确实能做到。

Using the same trick,

使用同样的把戏，

Weasel packs buffalo voters into a few ranges

鼬鼠将水牛党的选民集中在少数几个选区中，

and spreads the rest among the jackalope supporters.

并将其余选民分散到鹿角兔党的支持者中。

After the election,

选举结束后，

the jackalopes, who represent a minority of voters,

只代表少数选民的鹿角兔党，

are now, nonetheless, the majority party on the Jungle Council. 表達脈絡

现在却成了丛林委员会中的多数党。

This is the terrible power of gerrymandering.

这就是“杰利蝾螈”可怕的威力。

Weasel can take the exact same voters and get either party to win the election. 語法

鼬鼠可以使用完全相同的选民，让任何一个政党赢得选举。

Unsurprisingly,

不出所料，

Weasel's business grows

鼬鼠的生意越做越大，

and eventually every colony in the animal kingdom pays him to gerrymander their ranges.

最终动物王国里的每一个聚居地都付钱让他来操纵选区。

With so many clients,

由于客户众多，

Weasel now uses his computer to test hundreds of thousands of range combinations

鼬鼠现在使用他的电脑来测试成千上万种选区组合，

with elaborate statistical models of voter behavior

并结合复杂的选民行为统计模型

to get the results he needs.

来获得他需要的结果。

Queen Lion has seen what Weasel is up to 短語動詞

狮子女王看穿了鼬鼠的勾当，

and banishes him from her kingdom.

并将他逐出了王国。

But,

但是，

the census taker reminds her that ranges still need to be redrawn as the population changes.

人口普查员提醒她，随着人口的变化，选区仍然需要重新划分。

So, how is it going to be decided? 語法

那么，该如何决定呢？

Queen Lion suggests the obvious solution:

狮子女王提出了一个显而易见的解决方案：

a bipartisan committee must agree on all new range boundaries.

必须由一个两党组成的委员会就所有新的选区边界达成一致。

This seems like a good idea.

这似乎是个好主意。

After all, if both parties have to agree on the ranges, 表達脈絡

毕竟，如果两党必须就选区达成一致，

then they must end up being fair to everyone. 短語動詞

那么结果最终肯定对所有人都是公平的。

But,

但是，

after a few election cycles using this solution,

在使用这个方案经过了几个选举周期后，

Queen Lion notices that she always sees the same faces on the Jungle Council.

狮子女王注意到她在丛林委员会上总是看到同样的面孔。

Representatives almost never get defeated in their elections.

代表们在选举中几乎从未被击败过。

It turns out that the interests of the representatives 表達脈絡

事实证明，代表们的利益

and the interests of the citizens are not the same.

与公民的利益并不相同。

Citizens want elections where the candidates have to earn their vote. 短語搭配

公民希望在选举中候选人必须努力争取他们的选票。

These are close elections where either candidate has a chance of winning. 短語搭配

在这些势均力敌的选举中，任何一位候选人都有获胜的机会。

But, representatives don't want close elections,

但是，代表们不想要势均力敌的选举，

they want safe elections,

他们想要万无一失的选举，

elections where they run in a range that is filled with supporters. 用詞

即在一个充满支持者的选区里竞选。

Because the representatives are in charge of the boundaries, 短語搭配

因为是代表们负责划定边界，

they make the safest ranges possible.

所以他们制定了最安全的选区。

So, bipartisan committees are not enough.

因此，两党委员会是不够的。

To truly fix gerrymandering,

为了真正解决“杰利蝾螈”问题，

there are three options.

有三个选项。

The first is to set up a politically independent commission of appointed experts 短語動詞

第一个是建立一个由指定的专家或法官组成的政治独立的委员会

or judges to draw the boundaries.

来划定边界。

Independent commissions are much better than bipartisan committees,

独立委员会比两党委员会好得多，

but still not ideal because they usually group similar areas together,

但仍然不够理想，因为他们通常将相似的区域划分在一起，

so the elections are uncompetitive.

这导致选举缺乏竞争性。

And there's always the possibility that the independent commission

而且，独立委员会总是存在这样一种可能性：

is not as independent as it appears. 語法

他们并不像表面上看起来那么独立。

The second option is to let math decide the boundaries.

第二个选项是让数学来决定边界。

There are a number of ways to mathematically divide an area into equally populous ranges. 用詞

有很多种方法可以通过数学计算将一个地区划分为人口相等的选区。

The simplest example of this is called the shortest split line method.

其中最简单的例子被称为“最短分割线法”。

Find the shortest line that splits the voters in twain 用詞

找到将选民一分为二的最短直线，

and repeat as necessary until all the ranges are made.

并根据需要重复操作，直到所有选区都划分完毕。

This is much better than an independent commission,

这比独立委员会好得多，

but it does have the problem of occasionally producing skewed election results 語法

但它确实存在偶尔产生偏斜的选举结果的问题，

just through the pure bad luck of where the boundaries are drawn.

这仅仅是因为边界划定位置纯属运气不佳。

But, by publishing the algorithm used,

但是，通过公开所使用的算法，

all citizens can check the results and be confident that there is no intentional bias in the system. 短語搭配

所有公民都可以检查结果，并确信系统中没有故意的偏见。

The last solution is an unexpected one:

最后一个解决方案出人意料：

hire back the Weasel and embrace gerrymandering. 習語

把鼬鼠雇回来，坦然接受“杰利蝾螈”。

But, this time,

但是，这一次，

pay him to make the winners most closely match the voters as a whole. 短語搭配

付钱让他使获胜者最紧密地匹配整体选民的比例。

While it seems unsavory, 語法

虽然这看起来令人不快，

this is actually the best way to avoid disproportionate representation,

但这实际上是避免不成比例的代表性的最佳方法，

which is, by far, 短語搭配

而这显然是

the worst problem of gerrymandering.

“杰利蝾螈”最严重的问题。

But, considering these three solutions leaves Queen Lion grumpy. 語法

但是，考虑到这三个解决方案，狮子女王感到很暴躁。

The first two are improvements,

前两个是改进，

but still may result in uncompetitive elections or disproportionate results, 短語搭配

但仍然可能导致缺乏竞争性的选举或不成比例的结果，

while the third just feels wrong. 表達脈絡

而第三个只是感觉不对劲。

Gerrymandering to avoid the problems of gerrymandering is odd.

为了避免“杰利蝾螈”的问题而使用“杰利蝾螈”是很奇怪的。

Remembering what she learned about voting before,

回想一下她之前学到的关于投票的知识，

she realizes that all this gerrymandering is really just a symptom of a more fundamental problem: 習語

她意识到所有这些“杰利蝾螈”实际上只是一个更根本问题的症状：

the method by which each citizen gets only one vote 語法

即每个公民只能获得一张选票

and elects only one representative.

并只能选出一名代表的方法。

There are ways to eliminate gerrymandering and restore competitive elections

有很多方法可以消除“杰利蝾螈”并恢复竞争性选举

to make her citizens happy, 語法

以让她的公民满意，

but to do that,

但为了做到这一点，

Queen Lion is going to have to make some big fundamental changes to her democracy. 語法

狮子女王将不得不对她的民主制度进行一些重大的根本性改变。