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Hi, I'm Craig, and this is Crash Course Government and Politics.
嗨，我是克雷格，这是《政府和政治速成课》。
Today, I'm going to try to explain two fundamental concepts of American government that students and citizens often confuse.
今天，我将试着解释美国政府的两个基本概念，这两个基本概念学生和公民经常混淆。
Team Jacob and Team Edward. No.
雅各布队和爱德华队。不。
Separation of powers and checks and balances. Team Jacob!
三权分立，相互制衡。雅各布队！
So separation of powers is really simple.
所以分权很简单。
The national government is divided into three separate branches:
国家政府分为三个独立部门：
the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch.
立法部门、行政部门和司法部门。
I put them in this order because that's the way the Constitution has them.
我把它们按这个顺序排列因为宪法就这样写的。
And I'm not going to argue with the Constitution, except for that stupid 3/5ths of a person thing.
我不会和宪法争论，除非是我只有五分之三智慧的傻子。
So the legislative branch comes first, because it's supposed to be the most important branch,
所以立法部门是第一位的，因为它应该是最重要的部门，
and Article I is the longest and most detailed of the 7 Articles in the Constitution.
第1条是7条宪法中最长、最详细的一条。
The main job of the legislature is to make laws.
立法机关的主要工作是制定法律。
The secondary job is to say. No, it's your fault. No, it's your fault! No, it's your fault!
次要的工作是说。不,这是你的错。不,这是你的错！不,这是你的错！
I'm going home, I have to campaign.
我要回家了，我要竞选。
Then we have the executive branch, and here the Constitution is a little less helpful.
然后有行政部门，此处宪法没那么有用。
Article II Section I states "The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America".
第1部分第2条规定“行政权力属于美利坚合众国总统”。
The executive branch is obviously more than one guy or girl.
行政部门显然不止一个人。
The executive branch is in charge of executing the law, which basically means carrying them out.
行政部门负责执行法律，基本上就是执行法律。
The President is like the CEO of the US, making sure that the government governs.
总统就像美国的首席执行官，确保政府运行。
Interestingly, the President's power as executive is found in the Oath of Office.
有趣的是，总统的行政权力体现在就职宣誓中。
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States,
“我庄严宣誓，我将忠实地执行合众国总统的职务，
and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
并将尽我所能，维护、保护和捍卫美国宪法。”
Wait, Stan, I just gave the Presidential Oath of Office, so I'm President now, right?
等等，斯坦，我刚刚宣誓就任总统，所以我现在是总统，对吧？
Totally. Oh, elections, yeah, we didn't have those.
完全。哦，选举，是的，我们没有。
Last and, in the eyes of many, least, is the judicial branch.
在许多人看来，最后也是最不重要的是司法部门。
The job of the judiciary, also sometimes called "the Courts"
司法部门有时也称为“法庭”
which I'm going to also call"the Courts"; because judiciary is really hard to say,
我也称之为“法庭”；因为司法部门这个单词发音很难，
is to interpret the law, to explain what it means.
司法部门的工作是解释法律，解释它的含义。
Article III, which describes the judicia- the courts is even shorter than Article II.
第3条，它描述了司法-法院，甚至比第二条更短。
It only has 3 sections instead of 4, and the courts today don't really look like this description.
它只有3个部分而不是4个部分，今天的法庭并不像这样描述。
Here is the first sentence of Article III Section I:
以下是第1部分第3条的第1句:
"The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court,
“美国的司法权属于最高法院，
and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."
在像国会这样的初级法院，有时会制定和建立司法权。”
At least the Framers realized that the entire United States would probably need more than one court.
至少制宪者意识到整个美国可能需要不止一个法院。
But notice right there in the sentence, that Congress has the power to create all other courts.
但请注意，国会有权成立所有其他法院。
And this lead us nicely into the second important concept of American government - checks and balances.
这让我们很好地进入了美国政府的第二个重要概念——制衡。
Yeah, that was a segue right into it.
对，这是一个改编版本。
It was a nice job, by me.
这是一份不错的工作，我做的。
I'm going to need a little help explaining checks and balances, so let's do that part in the Clone Zone.
我需要一些帮助来解释制衡，让我们在克隆人区做这个部分。
Checks and balances is a confusing term because it implies two things.
制衡是一个令人困惑的术语，因为它意味着两件事。
But really, it would be better to think of them as checks that balance,
但实际上，最好是把它们看成是平衡，
although that might be confusing to people who actually try to balance their checkbooks.
尽管这可能会让那些试图平衡收支的人感到困惑。
Anyways, the point here is that each of the branches has the power to limit, or check, the other two
总之，这里的重点是每个分支都有限制或检查其他两个分支的能力
and this creates a balance between the three separate powers.
这就在这三个独立的权力之间建立了一种平衡。
In the same way that the Constitution lays out the legislature in the greatest detail,
就像宪法详细地规定了立法机关一样，
it also gives the legislature the greatest number of checks on the other branches.
这也使立法机关对其他分支机构进行了最多的检查。
Legislative clone?
立法机关克隆人呢？
So the Framers of the Constitution were really concerned about the President becoming a tyrannical figure a la King George III.
所以宪法的制定者真的很担心总统会变成一个暴君，就像国王乔治三世一样。
That guy was a jerk.
那家伙是个混蛋。
So the Constitution gives the legislature a lot of power over the Executive.
所以宪法赋予了立法机关很大的权力。
The House of Representatives can impeach the President,
众议院可以弹劾总统，
then the Senate can remove the President from office,
然后参议院可以罢免总统，
but only if two thirds of the Senators vote for impeachment.
但只有三分之二的参议员投票赞成弹劾的时候才行。
The Senate can also check the President's appointment of judges and officials by rejecting them.
参议院还可以否决总统任命的法官和官员。
This is known as advice and consent.
这被称为建议和同意。
Either branch of Congress can investigate executive activities and officers.
国会的任何一个分支都可以调查行政活动和官员。
If the President vetoes a law, Congress, with a two thirds vote in both houses, can override the veto.
如果总统否决了一项法律，在两院拥有三分之二投票权的国会可以推翻否决
Congress can also refuse to pass laws that the executive wants, and probably most important,
国会也可以拒绝通过行政机关想要的法律，也许最重要的是，
they can refuse to appropriate funds for executive programs.
他们可以拒绝为执行项目拨款。
You might think that since the judiciary is the third and presumably least important branch,
你可能会想既然司法机构是第三个也是最不重要的分支，
Congress would have fewer checks on it.
国会对它的检查会更少。
But that would be wrong! Here are the ways that the legislative branch can limit the judicial branch:
但那是错误的！以下是立法部门限制司法部门的方法:
Congress can impeach and remove judges as it can do with the President.
国会可以像弹劾总统一样弹劾和罢免法官。
Congress can be a bunch of jerks sometimes.
国会有时会是一群混蛋。
Huh, that's me. Heheheh.
嗯，那就是我。呵呵呵呵。
Senates can reject judicial nominees, which is a check on judges before they even get there.
参议员可以拒绝司法提名，这是对法官的审查，甚至在成为法官之前。
Congress can change the federal court system by adding or taking away courts like it says in Article III.
国会可以改变联邦法院系统，增加或取消法院，就像第3条所说的那样。
And it can change the jurisdiction of federal courts.
它可以改变联邦法院的管辖权。
Congress can pass new laws that override the Supreme Court decisions, as long as the decisions aren't based on the Constitution.
国会可以通过新的法律来推翻最高法院的决定，只要这些决定不是基于宪法。
Don't want to do that, no.
我不想那样做，不。
And as a very last, super drastic resort, Congress can propose Amendments to the Constitution, as it did with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, overruling the Dred Scott decision.
作为最后的，极端的手段，国会可以提出宪法修正案，就像它对第13、第14和第15次修正案所做的那样，否决了德莱德·斯科特的决定。
Wow, legislative clone. Looks like the Framers were so scared of an all-powerful super president that they gave Congress most of the power.
哇，立法克隆人。看起来制宪者是如此害怕一个全能的超级总统，以至于他们给了国会大部分权力。
Executive Clone, you know, I'll be Executive Clone because I'm basically president of the clones.
行政克隆人，你知道，我会是行政克隆人因为我基本上是克隆人的总裁。
The executive branch can check the power of the legislature in the following ways:
行政部门可以通过以下方式检查立法机关的权力：
the president can veto Congress' laws so that they don't go into effect.
总统可以否决国会的法律，这样它们就不会生效。
The president can call Congress into a special session, but he can't make them pass new laws.
总统可以召集国会召开特别会议，但他不能让国会通过新的法律。
The executive branch carries out the laws, and may do so in ways that are contrary to what Congress wanted.
行政部门执行法律，并可能以违反国会要求的方式执行。
Although this rarely happens, the vice president is given power to break ties in the Senate,
虽然这种情况很少发生，但是副总统被赋予了打破参议院关系的权力，
which is one of his only real powers other than embarrassing the president.
这是他唯一真正的权力之一，而不是让总统难堪。
The president nominates Supreme Court justices, and this can change the way the courts work.
总统任命最高法院的法官，这可以改变法院的工作方式。
He also nominates federal court judges, and this shapes the entire court system.
他还提名联邦法院法官，这塑造了整个法院系统。
The president can pardon people convicted by the courts, which cancels out their judgments.
总统可以赦免被法院定罪的人，因为法院取消了他们的判决。
The president can also, in his capacity to carry out the laws, refuse to carry out court decisions.
总统也可以，以他的能力执行法律，拒绝执行法院的决定。
So you can see, even with a number of checks that it has, the executive branch is weaker than the legislature.
所以如你所见，即使有很多检查，行政部门也比立法机关弱。
But not as judiciary branch.
但不如司法部门弱。
Many political scientists consider the judiciary the weakest branch
许多政治学家认为司法是最薄弱的一环
because without legislative and executive action, it doesn't have a whole lot to do.
因为没有立法和行政，司法就没有很多事情要做。
Being the weakest branch, the judiciary also has the fewest checks on the other two branches.
作为最弱的分支，司法机关对其他两个分支的检查也最少。
Here's what it can do: The judiciary checks the legislature by declaring its laws unconstitutional.
它可以做的是：司法机关通过宣布其法律违宪来检查立法机关。
The Chief Justice presides over impeachment trials, and sometimes he gets to wear a special robe when this happens.
首席大法官主持弹劾审判，有时他会穿一件特殊的长袍。
Perk of the job, it's a perk of the job.
工作的好处，这就是工作的好处。
It's really nice.
真的很好。
And the judiciary checks the executive branch by declaring executive actions unconstitutional.
司法机构通过宣布行政行为违宪来检查行政部门。
A really good example of this was Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company vs. Sawyer, a super important case.
一个很好的例子是杨斯顿钢铁公司总统权限案，Tube公司对Sawyer公司，一个非常重要的案例。
Look it up, look it up!
查一下，查一下！
The court also issues warrants in federal crime cases,
法院还在联邦犯罪案件中发出逮捕令，
and again presides over impeachment trials in the Senate.
并且再次主持参议院弹劾审判。
But the big check that the courts have is invalidating laws and executive actions.
但是，法院面临的最大的制约是使法律和行政行为无效。
We'll talk about how courts actually do this and where they got this power in a later episode.
我们将会讨论法院是如何做到这一点的以及他们在后来的一集里是如何获得权力的。
No, I'll talk about it in a later episode, okay?
不，我待会再谈，好吗？
Let's go back to the regular desk.
让我们回到正常的办公桌。
You're out of order!
你真是没有秩序！
Thanks clones.
谢谢你克隆人。
Now some of you are probably saying, Craig,
现在你们中有些人可能会说，克雷格，
this is very helpful information but why do we have checks and balances in the first place?
这是非常有用的信息，但是为什么我们首先要有制衡呢？
To you I say, "Stop talking to your computers, that's weird!"
我对你说，“别再和你的电脑说话了，这太奇怪了！”
I also say, "Let's go to the Thought Bubble."
我也会说，“让我们进入思想泡泡。”
So the Framers of the Constitution were terrified of a tyrannical central government
所以宪法的制定者害怕一个专制的中央政府
that would destroy people's rights like they felt the British had.
这将破坏人们的权利，就像他们认为的那样。
The powers of the national government are separated, and each branch are able to check others
国家政府的权力是分开的，每个部门都可以检查其他部门
because this makes it more difficult for the government to act in ways that harm the acts and interests of the citizens.
因为这使得政府更难采取损害公民行为和利益的行动。
One of the best explanations of this comes from, you guessed it, the Federalists Papers.
对此最好的解释之一来自《联邦党人文集》。
In this case, Federalist 51, which was written by James Madison,
在这个例子中，《联邦党人文集》第51章中，作者是詹姆斯·麦迪逊，
who also wrote a lot of the Constitution and became president, so he kind of knows what he's talking about.
他还写了很多宪法并成为总统，所以他知道自己在说什么。
And really, it's kind of a shame that he's not on our money
真的，他没有印在我们的钱上，真有点可惜
because Americans would pay him more attention, and they would also pay him, literally.
因为美国人会更关注他，也更愿意付钱。
In Federalists 51, the title which also contains the phrase,"checks and balances",
在《联邦党人文集》第51章中，标题也包含“制衡”一词，
Madison wrote, "But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in same department,
麦迪逊写道，“但更大的安全是防止几个权力逐渐集中在同一个部门，
consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means
包括向管理每个部门的人提供必要的宪法手段
and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.
和个人的动机来抵制他人的侵犯。
It may be a reflection on human nature,
这可能是对人性的一种反思，
that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government.
这类设置应该是控制政府滥用职权的必要手段。
But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature."
但什么是政府本身，才是最伟大的人性反思。”
That's right, he wrote with an accent.
没错，他写的东西还带着方言的味道。
Don't know how that's possible. Thanks, Thought Bubble.
我不知道这怎么可能。谢谢，思想泡泡。
Madison was talking about checks and balances;
麦迪逊说的是制衡；
I'll leave it up to you to decide if human nature requires that we build safeguards into our government to protect us from our leaders.
我将让你来决定，人性是否要求我们在政府中建立保障措施，以保护我们不受我们领导人的伤害。
But Madison thought so, and I think so too. But this isn't about me; this is about government.
但是麦迪逊是这么想的，我也是这么想的。但这不是关于我的事；这是关于政府的事。
And it's helpful to remember that when people tell you that the Framers of the Constitution were infallible,
当人们告诉你宪法的制定者是绝对正确的，记住这些是有用的，
James Madison actually that they were outfallible, or just fallible.
詹姆斯·麦迪逊说他们太容易犯错了，或者说他们太不可靠了。
Anyways, see you next time. I'm so fallible.
不管怎样，下次见。我很不可靠的。
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
《政府与政治速成课》是与PBS数字工作室联合制作的。
Support for Crash Course U.S. Government comes from Voqal.
对《美国政府速成班》的支持来自Voqal。
Voqal supports non-profits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持利用技术和媒体促进社会公平的非营利组织。
Learn more about their mission and initiatives at Voqal.org.
在Voqal.org了解更多关于他们的使命和倡议。
Crash Course is made by all these nice people, they're very nice. I know them.
《速成班》是由所有这些善良的人制作的，他们都是非常好的人。我知道。
Thanks for watching.
感谢收看。
