经济学人下载:政界中的巾帼英雄

The distaff of office
政界中的巾帼英雄

More sisters, daughters and wives of powerful leaders are taking the top political jobs
越来越多伟大领袖的姐妹、女儿和妻子获得最高政治职位

Jul 7th 2011 | from the print edition

“LET’S hear it for Dubai!” Yingluck Shinawatra led the crowd’s roar of approval at a campaign stop in Thailand, leaving little doubt of where her political allegiances lie: the Gulf city is home to her brother, the deposed and exiled prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. “If you love my brother”, she said at another rally, “will you give his younger sister a chance?”

 “为了迪拜，让我们听到它！”在泰国的一个竞选点，英拉??西那瓦领着众人为获胜而呐喊，但却让大家对她的政治立场心存一丝疑虑：她哥哥现在住在海湾城，免职流亡海外的前总理他信??西那瓦现在的居所。“如果你爱我的哥哥”，她在另一个集会说道：“你会给他的妹妹一次机会么？”

Ms Yingluck’s victory in Thailand’s general election on July 3rd is the latest example of an intriguing and, it seems, growing trend: for the sisters, daughters and widows of former leaders to take over the family political business on the death, retirement or—in Mr Thaksin’s case—exile of the founder. There are now more than 20 female relatives of former leaders active in national politics around the world. They include three presidents or prime ministers and at least half a dozen leaders of the opposition or presidential candidates (see table). There are no historical numbers for proper comparison, but it is hard to think of another period—certainly no recent one—when so much dynastic authority has been flowing down the female line.

7月3日，英拉在泰国大选中获胜，这是最近一个实例，耐人寻味同时似乎也是一种趋势：前领导人的姐妹、女儿、妻子会在其死亡、退休或者——像他信这样——流亡海外之后，接管其政治地位。现在，世界范围内有超过20位前领导人的女性亲属活动在国家政治舞台上，她们包括三位总统或总理，至少6位反对党领导人或总统候选人（见下表）。虽然没有历史数据用于对比，但是很难想象这样一个时代——当然不是最近这个——当前所未有的王朝权利划归女性手里后会是什么样子。

Some of these women have made it on their own. Others are at last getting a fairer share of the dynastic privileges that used to accrue to men. Family name confers brand recognition, useful contacts and financial contributions—all of which are vital in democracies, and become more so as retail politics become more important. So America has not only its Bush and Kennedy clans, but the Daley family of Chicago, the Cuomos of New York, the Udalls of the Rocky Mountain states. As politics becomes more professional and specialised —with politicians increasingly knowing no other walk of life—the advantages of being brought up in its ways and wiles grow greater. Violet Bonham Carter, daughter of H.H. Asquith, a British prime minister, told Winston Churchill that her father had talked to her about affairs of state as a child. “I wish I could have had such talks with mine,” was Churchill’s reply, of his austere parent. Many of today’s political daughters have Lady Violet’s advantages.

有些女性靠自己的努力获得政治地位，其他人最终获得原本属于男性的王朝特权更加公平的分配。家族姓氏给予了品牌认知、有用的社会关系和经济贡献——所有的一切在民主政治中至关重要，并且其重要性随着传播政治重要性的增长而增长。因此，美国不仅仅只是布什家族和肯尼迪家族，同时也有芝加哥的戴利家族、纽约的库莫斯家族、位于落基山附近的几个州的乌达儿家族。当政治变得更专业和专门化——当政客们对其他行业越来越不了解——他们成长方式和圆滑的优势会越来越明显。曾任英国首相的赫伯特??亨利??阿斯奎斯之女，维奥利特??邦汉??卡特告诉温斯顿??丘吉尔，她父亲在其孩童时代就经常和她谈论国家政治事务。“我希望我父亲也能这样和我聊聊国家政治。”丘吉尔回答道，想起了他严厉的父亲。当今，很多政治家的女儿们都拥有维奥利特女士的优势。