Hamilton vs. Madison and the birth of American partisanship | Noah Feldman

翻译人员: Wei Zhang 校对人员: Cissy Yun

If you've been thinking about US politics

在过去一年左右， 如果你一直在思考美国的政治

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

并试图理解它,

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

你可能会碰到以下三个命题：

one, US partisanship has never been so bad before;

一，美国的党派关系 从未如此糟糕；

two,

二，

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

首次， 这种关系是地理空间化的

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

我们分裂为两部分， 一边是想要向外看的海岸地区，

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

另一边是想要向内看的内陆；

and third,

第三，

there's nothing we can do about it.

我们对此无能为力。

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

我今天来这里说 所有这三个命题，

all of which sound reasonable,

所有这些听起来虽然很合理，

are not true.

它们是错误的。

In fact,

事实上，

our US partisanship goes all the way back

我们美国的党派关系可追溯到

to the very beginning of the republic.

到共和国的开始。

It was geographically spatialized in almost eerily the same way

在地理上的空间化

几乎和今天是同样的，

that it is today,

and it often has been throughout US history.

这种情况贯穿了美国历史。

And last,

最后，

and by far most importantly,

最重要的是，

we actually have an extraordinary mechanism

我们实际上有一个非凡的机制

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

旨在帮助我们管理 党派分歧和党派关系。

That technology is the Constitution.

这种技术是宪法。

And this is an evolving, subtly, supplely designed entity

这是一个不断变化的，微妙的， 设计精良的实体

that has the specific purpose

它的具体目的

of teaching us how to manage factional disagreement

就是去教我们如何尽可能管理好

where it's possible to do that,

派别分歧，

and giving us techniques for overcoming that disagreement

并给我们技巧方法去 尽可能克服

when that's possible.

这种分歧。

Now, in order to tell you the story,

为了告诉你们这个故事，

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

我想回到美国历史中的关键时刻，

and that is the moment

那就是

when factional disagreement and partisanship was born.

派别的分歧和多党派诞生的时候。

There actually was a birth moment --

在一个诞生的时刻，

a moment in US history when partisanship snapped into place.

美国的党派关系腾空出现。

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

故事核心人物 是詹姆斯·麦迪逊。

And at the moment that this began,

那时，

James Madison was riding high.

詹姆斯·麦迪逊正享受成功。

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

他不仅仅是美国宪法的创建者，

but of constitutional thought more globally,

更是全球宪法思想之父，

and, to give him his due,

公正地来说

he knew it.

他知道。

In a period of time of just three years,

在短短三年的时间里，

from 1785 to 1788,

从1785年到1788年，

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

他设想，理论化， 设计，通过并得到批准

the US Constitution.

美国宪法。

And just to give you some sense of the enormity

让你们认识一下

of what that accomplishment actually was,

这个成就的巨大规模，

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

虽然麦迪逊当时不知道，

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

如今，他设计的宪法技术仍被使用，

not only in the US,

不仅在美国，

but, 230 years later,

230年后，

in places like Canada,

在加拿大，

India,

印度，

South Africa,

南非，

Brazil.

巴西。

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

所以在世界各地，这个非凡的范围中

this technology is still the dominant,

这项技术依然占主导地位，

most used, most effective technology to manage governance.

是最常用，最有效的政府管理技术。

In that moment,

在那一刻，

Madison believed that, having solved this problem,

麦迪逊认为， 宪法问题解决了后，

the country would run smoothly,

国家会运行顺利，

and that he had designed a technology

他设计的宪法技术

that would minimize the results of factions

将使派系斗争的结果最小化，

so there would be no political parties.

所以不会产生多政党。

Remarkably, he thought he had designed a constitution

值得注意的是，他觉得 他设计的宪法

that was against political parties

是反对政党化的，

and would make them unnecessary.

会让多党派变得没有必要。

He had gotten an enormous degree of help

他得到了很大的帮助

in the final marketing phase of his constitutional project

在他的宪法项目的最后营销阶段

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

从一个你可能听说过的男人， 叫亚历山大·汉密尔顿。

Now, Hamilton was everything Madison was not.

汉密尔顿和麦迪逊 是相反两极。

He was passionate, where Madison was restrained.

汉密尔顿充满激情， 麦迪逊却更加保守。

He was pansexual,

汉密尔顿是泛性恋，

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

而麦迪逊在42岁之前

until he was 42 years old,

只和一个女人说过话，

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

之后，他与多丽结婚 40多年来一直幸福生活。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

To put it bluntly,

直言不讳，

Hamilton's the kind of person

汉密尔顿是那种人

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

你会为他创作一部嘻哈音乐剧，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

and Madison is the kind of person

而麦迪逊

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

身上毫无“嘻哈“元素，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or indeed, a musical of any kind at all.

你甚至都无法为他创作 一部正经的音乐剧。

But together,

但是在一起，

they had become a rather unlikely pairing,

他们成为一个不太可能的配对，

and they had produced the Federalist Papers,

他们共同写了《联邦主义论》，

which offered a justification

它为 宪法的营销计划，

and, as I mentioned,

正如我所说，

a marketing plan for the Constitution,

给出了理由。

which had been wildly effective and wildly successful.

这是非常有效的 并大获成功。

Once the new government was in place,

新政府到位，

Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury,

汉密尔顿成为财政部长，

and he had a very specific idea in mind.

他有一个非常具体的想法。

And that was

那就是

to do for financial institutions and infrastructure

创立金融机构和基础设施

exactly what Madison had done for constitutions.

正如麦迪逊为了宪法所做的一样。

Again, his contemporaries all knew it.

他的同时代人也都知道。

One of them told Madison,

其中一人告诉麦迪逊，

who can't have liked it very much,

他可能不愿意看到

that Hamilton was the Newton of infrastructure.

汉密尔顿作为美国基础设施的创立者。

The idea was pretty straightforward.

这个想法很简单。

Hamilton would give the United States a national bank,

汉密尔顿会为美国 创立一个国家银行，

a permanent national debt --

一笔永久国债

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

他说那将会是 “永恒不变的”，

and a manufacturing policy that would enable trade and manufacturing

并会制定生产政策， 这将使贸易和制造业

rather than agriculture,

超越农业，

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

成为美国的首要财务来源。

Madison went utterly ballistic.

麦迪逊极力反驳。

And in this pivotal, critical decision,

在这个至关重要的决定中，

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

麦迪逊并没有告诉大家 他的老朋友汉密尔顿错了，

and was adopting the wrong policies,

采取了错误的政策，

he actually began to argue

他反而开始争论

that Hamilton's ideas were unconstitutional --

汉密尔顿的想法 违反了宪法，

that they violated the very nature of the Constitution

违反了他俩一起

that the two of them had drafted together.

起草的宪法本质。

Hamilton responded the way you would expect.

汉密尔顿的回答 正如我们可以预料得到的。

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

他宣称麦迪逊是 他的“个人和政治敌人”

these are his words.

这些是他的原话。

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

两位国父曾经是 亲密的朋友、盟友

and such partners,

和合作伙伴，

then began to produce enmity.

现在开始产生敌意。

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

他们的做法非常老派。

First, they founded political parties.

首先，他们各建政党。

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

麦迪逊创造了 “民主共和党 ”

"Republican" for short --

简称“共和党”，

and Hamilton created a party called the Federalist Party.

汉密尔顿建立了 联邦党。

Those two parties adopted positions on national politics

这两方的政治立场

that were extreme and exaggerated.

非常极端和夸张。

To give you a clear example:

给你一个明确的例子：

Madison, who had always believed

麦迪逊一直相信

that the country would have some manufacturing and some trade

国家应有 一些制造业和一些贸易

and some agriculture,

和一些农业，

began attacking Hamilton

开始攻击汉密尔顿

as a kind of tool of the financial markets

说他是金融市场的工具

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

一切都是汉密尔顿用来控制 整个国家的伎俩。

That was an overstatement,

听起来是很夸张，

but it was something Madison came to believe.

但麦迪逊的确这样想。

He also attacked city life,

他还攻击城市生活方式，

and he said that the coasts were corrupt,

他说，海岸城市是腐败的，

and what people needed to do was to look inwards

人们需要向内陆看齐

to the center of the country,

回到国家的中心，

to farmers, who were the essence of Republican virtue,

尊重农民，他们是 共和党的美德，

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

人民应该回归 使美国伟大的价值观

specifically the values of the Revolution,

特别是革命

and those were the values of low taxes,

和低税收的价值观，

agriculture

增强农业

and less trade.

并减少贸易。

Hamilton responded to this by saying that Madison was naïve,

汉密尔顿回应说 麦迪逊太天真的，

that he was childish,

太幼稚，

and that his goal was to turn the United States

他称麦迪逊的目标会将美国

into a primitive autarchy,

变为一个原始的独裁国家

self-reliant and completely ineffectual on the global scale.

只能自力更生， 在全球范围内完全不起作用。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

They both meant it,

他们都是认真的，

and there was some truth to each of their claims,

他们的主张中有些属实，

because each side was grossly exaggerating the views of the other

因为每一方都是极力夸张 对方的意见

in order to fight their war.

为了打赢这场战争。

They founded newspapers,

他们各自创立报纸，

and so for the first time in US history,

所以在美国历史上第一次，

the news that people received came entirely through the lens

人们的新闻来源 不是来自共和党

of either the Republican or the Federalist party.

就是来自于联邦党。

How does this end?

一切是怎么结束的？

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

事实证明， 宪法起了作用。

But it did its work in surprising ways

但它起作用的方式 令人惊讶，

that Madison himself had not fully anticipated.

麦迪逊自己 也没有充分预料到。

First, there was a series of elections.

首先，有一系列的选举。

And the first two times out of the box,

而前两次开箱，

the Federalists destroyed the Republicans.

联邦党摧毁了共和党。

Madison was astonished.

麦迪逊很惊讶

Of course, he blamed the press.

他当然指责新闻界。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And in a rather innovative view --

他提出了一个十分创新的观点——

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

麦迪逊不管发生什么 都会提出创新的想法 ——

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

他说 新闻界偏心于联邦党的原因是

is that the advertisers were all Federalists,

广告商都是联邦党人，

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

因为联邦党徒是海岸线城市的贸易商 从大英帝国拿钱

which Federalism was in bed with.

和英国关系混乱不清。

That was his initial explanation.

那是他的初步解释。

But despite the fact that the Federalists,

但是，联邦党人

once in power,

掌权之后，

actually enacted laws that criminalized criticism of the government --

颁布了法律 治罪于那些批评政府的人，

that happened in the United States --

这些在美国都发生过，

nevertheless,

尽管如此，

the Republicans fought back,

共和党人开始反击，

and Madison began to emphasize the freedom of speech,

麦迪逊开始强调 言论自由，

which he had built into the Bill of Rights,

他早已把这写入《人权法案》，

and the capacity of civil society

和允许成立民间组织的自由。

to organize.

And sure enough, nationally,

当然，在全国，

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

被称为“民主共和团”的地方团体

began to form and protest against Federalist-dominated hegemony.

开始联合抗议联邦党强势的霸权。

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

最终共和党赢得全国大选，

that was in 1800.

那是在1800年。

Madison became the Secretary of State,

麦迪逊成为国务卿，

his friend and mentor Jefferson became president,

他的朋友和导师杰斐逊 成为总统，

and they actually, over time,

而实际上，随着时间的推移，

managed to put the Federalists completely out of business.

他们设法使联邦党 完全失去业务。

That was their goal.

这就是他们的目标。

Now, why did that happen?

为什么会这样呢？

It happened because in the structure of the Constitution

这是因为宪法的结构

were several features that actually managed faction

有几个功能 可以管理党派分歧，

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

这本是首先应该做的事。

What were those?

那些是什么？

One -- most important of all --

第一，最重要的一点就是

the freedom of speech.

言论自由。

This was an innovative idea at the time.

在当时，这是一个创新的想法。

Namely, that if you were out of power,

也就是说，如果你失去了政权

you could still say that the government was terrible.

你还可以说 政府是可怕的

Two,

第二，

civil society organization.

民间社会组织。

The capacity to put together private groups, individuals,

组织私人团体，个人，

political parties and others

政党等

who would organize to try to bring about fundamental change.

会带来根本的变化。

Perhaps most significantly was the separation of powers --

也许最重要的一条 是分权原则，

an extraordinary component of the Constitution.

它是宪法最非凡的部分。

The thing about the separation of powers

分权原则

is that it did then and it does now,

不管是在当时还是现在

drive governance to the center.

将治理推向中心。

You can get elected to office in the United States

在美国，你可以当选，

with help from the periphery,

通过外围的力量

right or left.

不管是左派还是右派。

It turns out,

事实证明，

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

除非你着重中心， 你无法治理。

There are midterm elections that come incredibly fast

中期选举会在

after a presidency begins.

总统职位开始没多久后 马上举行。

Those drive presidents towards the center.

这些都会促使总统 注重中间派。

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

其中存在一个结构， 其实总统并不统治

or even govern,

也并不能管理，

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

他们只能提案， 而这些提案必须经过他人的同意。

another feature that tends to drive presidents

这就是宪法结构的一个特点

who actually want to get things done

促使总统

to the center.

着力于最中心。

And a glance at the newspapers today will reveal to you

今日的报纸会透露出

that these principles are still completely in operation.

这些原则依然在运行。

No matter how a president gets elected,

无论总统如何当选，

the president cannot get anything done

总统不能做任何事情

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

除非总统首先 遵循《宪法》的规定，

because if not,

若是没有遵循，

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

法院将采取措施， 确实有时会发生，

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

不仅最近， 但在过去，在美国历史上。

And furthermore,

此外，

the president needs people,

总统需要人民，

elected officials who know they need to win election

民选官员知道 他们需要

from centrist voters,

从中间派选民中 赢得选举。

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

也要支持他或她的政策 以通过法规。

Without it, nothing much happens.

没有它， 没什么事情可以发生。

The takeaway of this brief excursus

这个简短的美国党派历史的

into the history of partisanship, then, is the following:

关键点在于

partisanship is real;

党派是真实的

it's profound;

它是深刻的

it's extraordinarily powerful,

它非常强大，

and it's terribly upsetting.

也会令人十分沮丧。

But the design of the Constitution is greater than partisanship.

但宪法的设计 大于党派。

It enables us to manage partisanship when that's possible,

它使我们能够管理党派 在可能的时候，

and it enables us actually to overcome partisan division

它实际上使我们能够克服党派分裂

and produce compromise,

并产生妥协，

when and only when that is possible.

只有当可能的时候。

A technology like that is a technology that worked

这样的技术 是一种有效的技术

for the founders,

对于国父来说，

it worked for their grandchildren,

它为他们的孙辈服务

it didn't work at the moment of the Civil War,

它在内战时没有起作用，

but then it started working again.

但后来又开始有用了。

And it worked for our grandparents,

它为我们的祖父母服务，

our parents,

服务我们的父母，

and it's going to work for us.

它也将为我们起效。

(Applause)

（掌声）

So what you should do is really simple.

所以你应该做的很简单。

Stand up for what you believe in,

支持你所相信的，

support the organizations that you care about,

支持你所关注的组织，

speak out on the issues that matter to you,

说出对你很重要的问题，

get involved,

参与其中，

make change,

改变，

express you opinion,

表达你的观点，

and do it with respect and knowledge and confidence

并且用尊重， 知识和信心去做，

that it's only by working together

只有人们共同合作，

that the constitutional technology can do the job that it is designed to do.

宪法技术才会发挥 它设计好的作用。

Stand up for what you believe,

捍卫你所相信的，

but take a deep breath while you do it.

但是在你做的时候要深吸一口气。

It's going to be OK.

一切都会没有事。

Thanks.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）