Gerrymander:重划选区
今天谈的gerrymander沿用了刚讲过的混合组词法,即gerrymander(改划选区,又名"蜥蜴脚尾"现象)--Elbridge Gerry+salamander,在这个混合词组中Elbridge Gerry(杰里)曾任美国副总统(1813-1814),而salamander则是一种极其丑陋的虫子,形似蜥蜴。二者不幸结合,生成了一个极不光彩的政治词汇。
Gerrymander被发明之前,该词的使作俑者杰里时任马萨诸塞州州长,为了能让他所在的民主党在议会选举中获胜,杰里使用packing(集中选票)和cracking(分散选票)两种手法重新改划选区。"集中选票"指把支持共和党的选民纳入原属该党候选人票仓的铁票选区,使共和党浪费掉很多选票;而"分散选票"则是把支持共和党的同性质的选民分割成若干不同的选区,票数分散无法产生应有的当选人。
这种伎俩后被肖像大师Gilbert Stuart(吉尔伯特·斯图尔特)以漫画形式再现了改划选区后的行政区图,并把这种salamander(看似蜥蜴)形状的选区分布起名为"Gerrymander",而此种不光彩的选举操作行为也被成为"蜥蜴脚尾"现象。
举个例子,用英语解释一下什么是gerrymander:There are two principal strategies behind gerrymandering: maximizing the effective votes of supporters, and minimizing the effective votes of opponents("蜥蜴脚尾"现象的两种主要策略是:最大限度增加本党有效选票的同时,使对手的有效选票达到最小化。)
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