CHAPTER III. ELECTIONS.

 1. A pure democracy is a government in which all the people who have the proper qualifications for voting personally take part—or have the right to do so—in the discussion of public measures, and enactment¹ of the laws. This is not practicable unless the State consist of a small number of persons; and a representative democracy is substituted, in which the masses of the people exercise the voting and ruling prerogative[568] by appointing a small number of substitutes to act in their place and represent them. This appointment of representatives is for the most part the only direct way in which the people of this country are able to take part in the government. Though the theory is that the people alone are sovereign, this is the only way in which sovereignty can exert itself. Even if present in a legislative² assembly, they cannot discuss or vote unless they are Representatives, duly elected.

2. Elections, then, are of the highest importance. If a citizen would exert his sovereign authority, as one of the depositaries of power, he must take part in them. Representatives elected to make laws are expected to express the will of the majority of the people whom they represent. They are pledged, expressly or tacitly, to do so. If they disobey the will of their constituents³, there is no immediate⁴ redress⁵. They can be displaced only at the close of the term for which they were elected. There is some inconvenience and danger attending this method; though the fear of the displeasure of their constituents is usually sufficient to secure faithfulness. Where the people are numerous, (there are now more than 135,000 persons to each representative,) it becomes a matter of much interest to know what is their will. It is ascertained⁶ by the elections. The people vote for a candidate, or nominee⁷, known to hold certain political principles. As men do not often see or think alike there is generally more than one principle, or system of views, regarding public measures, involved in every election, and therefore more than one candidate. The result of the vote shows the will of the majority. The same question generally occupies the attention of the whole country, and the elections to Congress determine the policy of the government, so far as legislation is concerned.

3. The same remarks apply to the election of the President and the members of the State governments. The choice of men for the State legislatures determines the policy and political principles of the State government, and as the majority in State legislatures appoint the Senators, the character of Congress[569] and its measures are influenced by State elections. The choice of the President is not, in theory, made directly, since Electors are chosen, who afterwards vote for the President; but it is understood that they will vote for a certain man; and it has been so invariably their custom to do so, that the result is considered as settled by the direct vote of the people. Should the Electors do otherwise the people would be very much surprised and displeased⁸, and those Electors would have little prospect⁹ of appointment to office again. Very few men in office are willing to seriously offend their constituents, so that practically, the people vote directly for the President and Vice-President they prefer.

4. Of all our elections none is considered of so much importance as the Presidential. These come every four years, because the Constitution provides that the term for which a President is chosen, shall be four years. Our elections, both for the general and State governments, are by ballot¹⁰, instead of viva voce, (the living voice,) as in some countries.

The ballot is a small piece of paper, with the name of the candidate or candidates printed or written upon it, and then folded in such a manner as to hide them, so that no one but the voter can tell what names are on his ballot. A vote by viva voce, is when the voter, in the presence of the inspectors¹¹ of the election, audibly and clearly calls out the name of the candidate for whom he votes, and thus proclaims in the hearing of all present how he votes. But the ballot enables the voter to vote secretly if he chooses to do so.

1 enactment   

n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过

参考例句：

• Enactment refers to action.演出指行为的表演。
• We support the call for the enactment of a Bill of Rights.我们支持要求通过《权利法案》的呼声。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

6 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

11 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》