首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Thomas Jefferson, who died in 1826, looms ever larger as a figure of special significance. Americans, of course, are familiar wi
Thomas Jefferson, who died in 1826, looms ever larger as a figure of special significance. Americans, of course, are familiar wi
admin
2010-05-14
55
问题
Thomas Jefferson, who died in 1826, looms ever larger as a figure of special significance. Americans, of course, are familiar with Jefferson as an early statesman, author of the Declaration of Independence, and a high-ranking presidential Founding Father. But there is another Jefferson less well known. This is the Jefferson who, as the outstanding American philosopher of democracy, has an increasing appeal to the world’s newly emerging peoples.
There is no other man in history who formulated the ideas of democracy with such fullness, persuasiveness, and logic. Those interested in democracy as a poetical philosophy and system—even those who do not accept his postulates or are critical of his solutions—must reckon with his thought.
What, then, is his thought, and how much of it is still relevant under modern conditions?
Of all the ideas and beliefs that make up the political philosophy known as Jefferson democracy, perhaps three are paramount. These are the idea of equality, the idea of freedom, and the idea of the people’s control over government. Underlying the whole, and serving as a major premise, is confidence in man.
To Jefferson; it was virtually axiomatic that the human being was essentially good, that he was capable of constant improvement through education and reason. He believed that "no definite limit could be assigned" to man’s continued progress from ignorance and superstition to enlightenment and happiness. Unless this kept in mind, Jefferson cannot be understood properly.
What did he mean by the concept of equality, which he stated as a "serf-evident" truth? Obviously, he was not foolish enough to believe that all men are equal in size or intelligence or talents or moral development. He never said that men are equal, but only that they come into the world with "equal rights". He believed that equality was a political rather than a biological or psychological or economic conception. It was a gift that man acquired automatically by coming into the world as a member of the human community.
Intertwined with equality was the concept of freedom, also viewed by Jefferson as a "natural right." In the Declaration of Independence he stated it as "self-evident" that liberty was one of the "inherent" and "unalienable rights" with which the Creator endowed man. "Freedom", he summed up at one lime, "is the girl of Nature."
What did Jefferson mean by freedom and why was it necessary for him to claim it as an "inherent" or "natural" right? In Jefferson thought there are two main elements in the idea of freedom. There is, first, man’s liberty to organize his own political institutions and to select periodically the individuals to run them. The other freedom is personal. Foremost in the area of individual liberty, Jefferson believed, was the untrammeled fight to say, think, write, and believe whatever the citizen wishes m provided, of course, he does not directly injure his neighbors.
It is because political and personal freedom are potentially in conflict that Jefferson, in order to make both secure, felt the need to found them on "natural fight". If each liberty derives from an "inherent" fight, then neither could justly undermine the other. Experience of the past, when governments, were neither too strong for the ruled or too weak to rule them, convinced Jefferson of the desirability of establishing a delicate natural balance between political power and personal fights.
This brings us to the third basic element in the Jeffersonian idea: the people’s control over government. It is paradoxical that Jefferson, Who spent most of his adult years in politics, had an ingrained distrust of government as such. For the then-existing governments of Europe, virtually all of them hereditary monarchies, he had antipathy mixed with contempt. His mistrust of strong and unchecked government was inveterate. "I am not," he said, "a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."
Government being a necessity for civilized existence: the question was how it could be prevented from following its tendency to swallow the rights of the people. Jefferson’s answer to this ancient dilemma was at variance with much traditional thinking. He began with the postulate that government existed for the people, and not vice versa; that it had no independent being except as an instrument of the people; and that it had no legitimate justifications for existence except to serve the people.
From this it followed, in Jefferson’s view that only the people, and not their rulers or the privileged classes, could and should be relied upon as the "safe depositories" of political liberty. This key idea in the Jeffersonian political universe rested on the monumental assumption that the people at large had the wisdom, the capability, and the knowledge exclusively to carry the burden of political power and responsibility. The assumption was, of course, widely challenged and vigorously denied in Jefferson’s day, but he always asserted his confidence in it.
Confidence in the people, however, was not enough, by itself, to serve as a safeguard against the potential dangers inherent in political power. The people might become corrupted or demoralized or indifferent. Jefferson believed that the best practice for the avoidance of tyranny and the preservation of freedom was to follow two main policies. One was designed to limit power, and the other to control power.
In order to put limits on power, Jefferson felt, it was best to divide it by scattering its functions among as many entities as possible—among states, countries, and municipalities. In order to keep it in check, it was to be impartially balanced among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Thus, no group, agency, or entity would be able legitimately to acquire power for abuse. This is, of course, the theory that is embedded in the Constitution and that underlies the American federal system with its "check and balance".
For the control of power or, more specifically, the governmental apparatus itself, other devices had to be brought into play. Of these, two are of special importance: suffrage and elections.
Unlike many contemporaries, Jefferson believed in virtually universal suffrage. His opinion was that the universal right to vote was the only "rational and peaceable instrument" of free government.
Next to the fight to vote, the system of free elections was the foremost instrument for control over government. This involved, first, the election by the people of practically all high government officials, and, secondly, fixed and regular periods of polling, established by law.
To make doubly sure that this mechanism would work as an effective control over power, Jefferson advocated frequent elections and short terms of office, so that the citizens would be enabled to express their "approbation or rejection" as soon as possible.
This, in substance, is the Jeffersonian philosophy faith in the idea of equality, of freedom, and in the fight to and need for popular control over government.
What, in ail this, is relevant to peoples without a democratic tradition, especially those who have recently emerged in Asia and Africa? The rejection of democratic procedures by some of these peoples has been disheartening to believers in freedom and democracy. But it is noteworthy that democratic and parliamentary government has been displaced in are as where the people had no background in freedom or self-rule, and where illiteracy is generally high. Even there it is significant that the new dictatorships are usually proclaimed in the name of the people.
The Jeffersonian assumption that men crave equality and freedom has not been denied by events. Special conditions and traditions may explain non-democratic political methods for the achievement of certain purposes, but these remain unstable wherever the notion of liberty has begun to gain ground. "The disease of liberty", Jefferson said, "is catching."
The proof of this is to be found even in such societies as the Spanish and the Islamic, with their ancient traditions of chieftainships where popular eruptions against dictatorial rule have had an almost tidal constancy.
But it is a slow process, as Jefferson well knew, "The ground of liberty", he said, "is to be gained by inches; we must be contented to secure what we can get, from time to time. and eternally press forward for what is yet to get. It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good."
Does Jefferson survive? Indeed he does.
Which of the following statements would the writer probably Not support?
选项
A、The rejection of democratic procedures is partly attributed to ignorance.
B、Jefferson’s ideas of democracy are often distorted by some people on purpose.
C、Universal suffrage is the cardinal instrument for control over government.
D、Once the concept of liberty is accepted by the majority, a democratic society will be strongly demanded.
答案
B
解析
通读全文我们发现,Jefferson关于民主的观点不屈从于他人意图,因此B项符合本题目的要求。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/L6lO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
ThelateAustrianphilosopherLudwigWittgensteinoncesaidthatthemeaningofawordwasderivedfromthewayitisusedinla
AlongWashingtonState’srockycoastlineandinlandwaters,thered-and-whitepatrolboatsandhelicoptersoftheUnitedStates
ThisiswhatAfricahasinabundance,space,almost12millionsquaremilesofdesert,savanna,coastline,andpeople,700milli
ThisiswhatAfricahasinabundance,space,almost12millionsquaremilesofdesert,savanna,coastline,andpeople,700milli
ThisiswhatAfricahasinabundance,space,almost12millionsquaremilesofdesert,savanna,coastline,andpeople,700milli
"It’stoughtomakepredictions,especiallyaboutthefuture,"saidthatgreatbaseball-playingphilosopher,YogiBerra.Andyet
DivorceistransformingthelivesofAmericanchildren.Inthepost-WorldWarIIgeneration,morethan80percentofchildrengr
ThewayAmericansplanforretirementisabouttochange—again.AttheurgingofPresidentObama,theDepartmentofLaborisbac
TheauthorusesthenegotiationsinBritainandGermanyasanexampletoAttheendofthepassagetheauthorseemstoimplyth
随机试题
阅读下面的新闻材料,根据材料回答问题:【材料一】2017年1月24日,英国最高法院就“脱欧”程序案作出终审宣判,政府在启动“脱欧”程序前须经英国议会批准。这意味着,议会将在英国“脱欧”进程中掌握主导权。当天,最高法院11名法官以“8票对3票”的结
某甲的外祖父与某乙的父亲是亲兄弟,某丙的外祖母与某丁的祖母是亲姐妹。则()
女性,30岁,近1年来常发作性心慌、心悸、胸闷,心电图提示频发室性期前收缩,V4~V6,导联T波低平,ST段水平型下降约0.05mV,放射性核素心肌显像未见异常,超声心动图见二尖瓣膜脱垂。该患者在治疗上首选
一初诊糖尿病患者,查空腹血糖19.3mmol/L,甘油三酯6.13mmol/L,尿酮体(++)。对该患者高甘油三酯血症的最佳处理是
根据《建筑工程施工质量验收统一标准》,分项工程可按()进行划分。
根据招标投标相关法律规定,在投标有效期结束前,由于出现特殊情况,招标人要求投标人延长投标有效期时,()。【2009年考试真题】
王祎,字子充,义乌人。幼敏慧,及长,身长岳立,屹有伟度,以文章名世。睹元政衰敝,为书七八千言上时宰。危素、张起岩并荐,不报。隐青岩山,著书,名日盛。太祖征江西,祎献颂。太祖喜曰:“江南有二儒,卿与宋濂耳。学问之博,卿不如濂。才思之雄,濂不如卿。”太祖创礼贤
在ISO/OSI参考模型中,网络层的主要功能是______。
【C1】______peopledon’twakeupinthemorning,combtheirhair,and【C2】______thefrontdoorand【C3】______theworldstage.
PASSAGETHREEWhatmustthesmallboysdototheolderboysinordertobetreatedlessviolently?
最新回复
(
0
)