VOA常速英语:The Federalist Papers

This month marks the 230th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787. But to become the law of the land the Constitution had to be ratified by the states.A key role in that ratification process was played by the authors of what is now called The Federalist Papers.
美国宪法签署于1787年9月17日，至本月（指2017年9月）已满230周年。但是当初，为了使之成为全国性的法律，宪法必须要得到美国各州的批准。在这个批准的过程中，一个关键角色就是我们现在所称的联邦党人文集的作者们。

The Federalist Papers are an important American contribution to political thought.They were written between 1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, following the Constitutional Convention of 1787.From 1776 when Americans issued the Declaration of Independence and broke the ties that connected them to Great Britain to 1789 when the new Constitution went into effect, for those 13 years, the United States were operating under the Articles of Confederation.
联邦党人文集对美国的政治思想做出了重要贡献。文集写于1787年至1788年间，由亚历山大·汉密尔顿（James Hamilton）、詹姆斯·麦迪逊（James Madison）和约翰·杰伊（John Jay）所作，是1787年制宪会议的后续产物。自1776年美国人发表独立宣言并宣布脱离英国统治到1789年新宪法正式生效的13年中，美国一直是在按照邦联条例运作。

Objections were raised to these Articles of Confederation as ineffective and problematic.The government that resulted from them was called too weak and unable to address the concerns that the American people had.Therefore a Constitutional Convention was called for, which convened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. The delegates from 13 states got together in the Constitutional Convention and after four months produced the document,the United states Constitution, that later was to be ratified by the people of at least nine states.
然而，很多反对意见认为邦联条例效率低下、问题重重。而由之产生的政府也软弱无能，无法为美国人民排忧解难。因此，1787年夏天，制宪会议在费城召开。制宪会议上，来自美国13个州的代表们聚在一起，历经四个月最终制定了美国宪法。之后按照规定，该宪法至少需由九个州批准，方可生效。

The Federalist Papers originally were published as newspaper essays in New York, under the penname Publius. These eighty-five essays defended the merits of the proposed Constitution as a necessary and good replacement for the Articles of Confederation, which during the Revolutionary war, had proven defective as a means of governance.
联邦党人文集最初是三位作者共以笔名“普布利乌斯（Publius）”在纽约报刊上发表的一系列的论文。文集包含85篇论文，对拟议宪法的优点进行了论证，认为拟议宪法是邦联条例必要且更好的取代品。而后者在美国独立战争中已表现出了其作为国家治理手段的种种缺陷。

The Federalist Papers have much to teach about the American political system and values and about the structure of the U.S. government.Those who make the effort to read this work will also learn about the way Americans view the role of debate and consensus building in decision making, particularly about issues that impacts them on the national level.
联邦党人文集对美国的政治制度、价值观以及美国政府的结构大有裨益。通过认真阅读这本书，也可以从中了解美国人对于决策中论证与建立共识之作用的看法，尤其是他们对从国家层面上影响他们的问题的看法。

French political philosopher and author of Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville,made a nine-month journey throughout America in the 1830s and commented extensively on American culture and institutions.He called the Federalist Papers “an excellent book, which ought to be familiar to the statesmen of all countries.”
法国政治哲学家、美国的民主一书的作者亚历克西斯·托克维尔（Adamis de Tocqueville）于19世纪三十年代在美国进行了为期九个月的旅行，并详细评论了美国的文化与组织机构。他称联邦党人文集是一本十分优秀的书，应当为每个国家的政治家所熟读