Cheng Yawen: The foundation of the American self -correction "myth" has collapsed

The argument about the "civil war" in the United States has significantly increased or even become a serious academic topic in the recent period of public opinion. Some observers believe that the United States has actually fallen into a "political civil war." Internal social tears and political parties have continued to intensify over the years, and the trend of turning slowly in a short period of time can not be seen.

In the past, "the United States has strong self -error correction and institutional repair ability", can it be fulfilled? For more than a century, the United States has experienced a major impact of domestic and diplomacy such as Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and the United States and Soviet Cold War. Economic crisis, social turmoil and political confrontation have occurred, but in the end they can overcome the challenges and get out of the minefield. During World War II, the United States achieved a transition from a general power to a world -wide power from the crisis; in the 1980s, the "Reagan Revolution" guided the US economic recovery and thoroughly stepped out of the Vietnam War; "The winner walked out of the Cold War. All these have gradually formed a narrative framework for "the United States with unique institutional advantages" in public opinion. This narrative is also accepted and recognized by some people elsewhere. Faced with the continuous strengthening of political confrontation within the United States in recent years, many external observer believe that this does not mean that the United States has "political decline", and the US error correction mechanism and system repair ability will make it difficult.

This "self -error correction and institutional repair ability" refers to the ability to correct and conduct relevant system innovation on its own mistakes. Is only the United States that has such national capabilities? Obviously not. As long as a country exists continuously for a long time, there will always be a crisis situation like this, and it usually shows certain self -error correction and institutional repair ability. However, the "self -error correction and institutional repair ability" in the American political context is not equivalent to similar abilities in other countries. One of the key differences that it advertised is that this ability of the United States is rooted in the so -called "American characteristics", which is based on its constitutional system, democracy and the rule of law system, and power checks and balance mechanism. This is the "institutional system of the United States. The performance of superiority is considered to be difficult for other countries.

Therefore, behind the so -called "ability" speech, the mind is still politics. Through this kind of discourse, it can stimulate Americans' pride and consolidate the United States as a country. From the perspective of practical and thought, the United States "with strong self -error correction and institutional restoration ability" is a post -explanation and myth of the post -afterwards of gaining and maintaining the status of the United States, but it is not necessarily necessarily certainly not necessarily. In this way, for example, why did the United States show "institutional superiority" and prevent the cruel civil war from happening?

In the past, the system of error correction in the United States actually had two important prerequisites: one was the political system characterized by the main characteristics of elite republics and election democracy since the founding of the People's Republic of China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The descendants accounted for the majority of the population and the mainstream of the Anglo -Saxon culture. They did not really encounter the challenges of racial composition and culture and faith. The other is that since the late 19th century, the United States has long been the world's largest industrialization country. Industrialization and wealth accumulation created good conditions for employment and implementation of extensive benefits, which is conducive to resolving the conflict between different people and the conflict between different people. Extension in the crowd provides strong support. The right to election in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, in the first half of the 20th century, "Great Depression" in the first half of the 20th century, then the new policy promoted by President Roosevelt after the "Great Depression". For the premise of industrialization, it has briefly resolved some sharp political opposition through "interests".

White people -based population structure and religious and cultural system, which are dominated by Protestantism, ensure that the previous "Americans" are generally a community of emotional community; In the past, "Americans" were generally a community of interests. The correlation between emotion and interests has made the previous "Americans" generally a political community. This is the main basis for the United States to show error correction and institutional restoration. But these foundations have now collapsed.

The first President Washington in the United States said in a farewell speech, "Since you become citizens of the same country due to birth or naturalization, this country has the right to concentrate your emotions." Now the problem is that they come to the new crowd in the United States today, Many of them are no longer English, and they are no longer incorporated into the mainstream cultural system of the United States. The common emotions of traditional "Americans" are also increasingly weak. The population structure in the United States has changed dramatically since the new century. The latest census data shows that although traditional white people are still about 70%of Americans over 55 years old, only half of Americans aged 18 to 34 years old, not in the past, have not been under the same time. Adults are already less than 50%. More importantly, the proportion of new religions in new immigrants and new population is increasing. Other believers and non -English population have increased, and changes in population structure and cultural beliefs have exceeded the formation of the United States as a political community formed as a political community. The boundary. This is exactly the late American political scholar Huntington in "Who is Americans? ——The anxiety in the book "Challenge faced by the US Nationality".

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