【美国公民60秒】民主的要素-民主_英语听力练习mp3下载-政治-沪江听力酷

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【美国公民60秒】民主的要素-民主

听力简介：

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Sources of political authority:

Historical and current sources which have been claimed as foundation of political authority include the following:

Supreme Being

A Supreme Being, God, has frequently been invoked as the basis for political authority. This claim has been used, for example, in early modern Europe when the "Diving Right of Kings" doctrine claimed that the power of monarchs came directly from God. It was used in a different form in Dynastic China, where the "Mandate of Heaven" was claimed as the basis of Emperors’ authority.

Holy books

The rules, laws and religious doctrines found in holy books have been used historically and at present as the basis of claims to political authority. Both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Koran have most notably been claimed as the basis of political authority.

Historical mandate

In the 20th century, Communist parties invoked History, with a capital "h" as the basis of their rule, indicating the authoritative, in effect, the "divine" character of history. In these instances, History was said to have a purpose that only the Communist Party could further and it justified the Party’s tyrannical rule.

Philosophical / theological knowledge

Special knowledge has sometimes been invoked as the basis for political authority.

The claim to special knowledge among those who rule theocracies, for example, has been used to justify absolute political authority.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato claimed philosophical knowledge as the justification for "philosopher kings."

Tradition / custom

Tradition and custom have frequently been said to justify some arrangement of political authority, including that of monarchs whose hereditary claim to rule has sometimes been claimed to lie in a vague, distant past. In this case the idea of "prescription" may be invoked to claim that arrangements that have served a society historically have the authority of tradition. What has served society in the past, it is said, should be retained by the present. New arrangements in this view, are dangerous and may lead to social breakdown and chaos.

Popular sovereignty / consent

In democracies, supreme authority (sovereign) is said to lie collectively in a nation’s citizens ("the People").

This ultimate authority, the People, must consent to the political institutions that rule in their name.

The authority of a democratic political system is often conceived as a tacit agreement ("contract") between society and government, in which the members of society ("citizens") agree to the legitimacy of the political system, provided that it protects their fundamental rights and furthers the good ("welfare") of society.

All governmental authority in a democracy is derived from the sovereignty of the People – the collective body of citizens that authorizes the government to operate under constitutional arrangements to which it consents.

Question:

What exactly is democracy? Why do we need it?

Hints:

本文为美式拼写。译文谨供参考，如有谬误欢迎捉虫 ^ ^

self-government

文中有两处双引号。