HL 8. POLITICAL STAGNATION, THE DWINDLING OF TRUE DEMOCRACY, AND ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE AS PROPHET OF OUR TIME

8. POLITICAL STAGNATION, THE DWINDLING OF TRUE DEMOCRACY, AND ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE AS PROPHET OF OUR TIME
Note:8@@@@@@@@@@IL PROLIFERARE DEL DIRITTO ACQUISITO COME SEGNALE E CAUSA DI STAGNAZIONE E RIGIDITÀ

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Anti-establishment insurgent campaigns
Note:UNA REGOLA OVUNQUE

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not on a hope for change in Washington but on a hope for a return to the past.
Note:IL VERO CUORE DEOL MESSAGGIO

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stasis has been the defining characteristic of our government
Note:PAURA DI MUOVERSI

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More and more of the budget is consumed by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,
Note:COSA CI DICONO I BILANCI

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government support for the arts (e.g., the National Endowment for the Arts) and for science (e.g., the National Science Foundation).
Note:IL SENSIBILE VUOLE DISTRARSI ...È IMPAURITO DAI SUOI PROBLEMI

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inflexible nature of spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security and locked-in expenditure growth,
Note:UNICO VINCOLO AMMESSO

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the Steuerle-Roeper Fiscal Democracy Index measures how much of American fiscal decisions are being determined by current democratic procedures as opposed to automatic pilot.
Note:INDICE ELOQUENTE...OGGI SEMPRE PIÙ AGGIORNAMENTI AUTOMATICI

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every dollar of revenue coming in the door—and then some—already had been committed by previous decisions of Congress.
Note:2009

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even less free for discretionary allocation if current interest rates were not so low,
Note:E Euro ON GLI INTERESSI IN CRESCITA ANDRÀ PEGGIO

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a low level of fiscal democracy is a sign of stasis and a lack of investment in thinking boldly about the future.
Note:NUOVI PROGETTI TARPATI...NUOVE IDEE AFFOSSATE

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government on autopilot
Note:TIPICO DELLE DEMOCRAZIE

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the more successful members of the complacent class,
Note:I PRIVILEGIATI DEL BLOCCO

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They may regret that things are not “better yet,”
Note:EPPURE SPESSO SONO LORO I CONTESTATORI

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most vociferous advocates for greater discretionary spending from government.
Note:SPENDERE SPENDERE SPENDERE

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This process ultimately becomes a malfunction of democracy.
Note:PATOLOGIA DELLA SPESA IPOTACATA

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“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.”
Note:PERSA LA FLESSIBILITÀ PERSO X SEMPRE L ANTICO ADAGIO DI CHURCHIL....NESSUN POLITICO PUÒ PIÙ APELLARSI ALLA POLITICA DEL CUSCINETTO....DELLA SPESA

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a big chunk of democratic policies, simply repeating year after year?
Note:COSA CI RITROVIAMO

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the share of federal government expenditures as part of the economy.
Note:UN ALTRO MISURATORE DELLA STASI E DELLA XDITA DI FLESSIBILITÀ

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European nations have well-developed welfare states while the United States enforces a kind of cutthroat social Darwinism.
Note:LA CARICATURA DA SFATARE....GLI USA FUORI DALL OSSESSIONE SICUREZZA...NN È COSÌ

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The American government spends more on Americans’ health care (per capita) than the French government spends on their entire health care system (again in per capita
Note:NN CADIAMO IN PREGIUDIZI

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direct government expenditures on social programs as a percentage of GDP,
Note:USA ULTIMI....QUI LA NARRAZIONE FILA

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France, Finland, Belgium, and Denmark
Note:I LEADER

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But if we look at what are called tax expenditures, the picture shifts radically.
Note:MA ECCO LA SORPRESA

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use of the tax system to induce individuals or corporations to take one set of decisions rather than another,
Note:TAX EXPENDITURE

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American government has a large indirect hand in encouraging.
Note:USA LEADER

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“In the United States public social spending is relatively low, but total social spending is the second highest in the world.”
Note:BOTTOM LINE...OCSE

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American governments go to great lengths to make their citizens feel safe and protected;
Note:OVVERO...ANCHE NEGLI USA OSSESSIONE SICUREZZA

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Congressional incumbents are reelected at high rates, often at or above 90 percent,
Note:ALTRO SEGNO DI RIGIDITÀ

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Elections these days often seem more about who is to blame
Note:SEMPRE NEGATIVI

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New governments end up unpopular rapidly after their ascent to power,
Note:SEMPRE SCONTENTI

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who or what is to be voted out rather than who is to be voted in.
Note:L OGGETTO DEL DIBATTITO...CHI ROTTAMARE

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So just stay put and stick with the party or the candidate you’re already voting for.
Note:NN SI VEDONO ALTEENATIVE

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Downsian competition and the median voter theorem,
Note:L IDEA BASE DELLE SCIENZE POLITICHE DI UN TEMPO...ANNI 50

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battles among lobbies, interest groups, financiers, political maneuvering, and who can win public relations campaigns fought in the media.
Note:OGGI...CHI DETERMINA I CAMBIAMENTI AL MARGINE NN CERTO L ELETTORE MEDIANO

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Alexis de Tocqueville,
Note:SOTTO

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trouble maintaining the democratic spirit of the country
Note:UNA DIAGNOSI CHE SI È AVVERATA

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Tocqueville’s basic portrait of the United States was of a land perpetually in motion.
Note:AI TEMPI LA DEMO FUNZIONAVA...ERA OSSIGENATA DAL DINAMISMO

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great awareness of what they always were lacking.
Note:LA MOLLA DEL DINAMISMO...CFR CON GLI INGLESI

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Tocqueville was struck by the degree of geographic mobility in America,
Note:INDICATORE

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current historical trends were by no means guaranteed to be permanent,
Note:QUELLO CHE CAPÌ T

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Americans, would, precisely through the process of their sluggish satisfaction, fall “into a complete and brutish indifference about the future.”
Note:LA FOSCA PREVISIONE DI T

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Ever spend too much time answering work email?
Note:TRADOTTO

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It promotes the merging of man and nature and thereby attempts to remove the idea of the transcendent from human discourse.
Note:T VEDEVA NEL PANTEISMO L ORIGINE DELLA DECADENZA

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The transcendent is no longer something man ought to strive for, and that surrender

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LA RESA

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distant from man, giving people something to look up to,
Note:IL DIO DI T

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There is instead a search for unity, resulting in a lazy pride and contentment and a forgetting of the striving and heroism
Note:COSA LO HA SOSTITUITO

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Think of Tocqueville’s invocation of pantheism, and the disappearance of the transcendent,
Note:UNA BUONNA INTUIZIONE X DESCRIVERE L APAGAMENTO

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sit at home for a week, read the internet, watch Netflix streaming, and have groceries delivered to your door,
Note:AL POSTO DI LOTTARE X LA GLORIA

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free up our time to reach for some kinds of greatness, such as producing a wonderful start-up firm to serve millions
Note:EPPURE L APPAGAMENTO NN È L ESITO SCONTATO

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American governance was effective because the country was relatively compact and small,
Note:L IDEA DI T

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extreme federal stasis was an alternative to federal dissolution.
Note:LA PREVISIONE DI T SI È CONVERTITA

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the new kind of “tyranny” will not resemble the despotisms of antiquity but rather will be based on the conformism and mediocrities
Note:UNA PREVISIONE AZZECCAYA

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IS DEMOCRACY DEAD?
Note:Ttttttttttttt

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Unemployment was only slightly above 5 percent, a recovery was well under way, and London is one of the world’s most remarkable cities,
Note:LO SHOCK DI BREXIT

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this is a case of democracy realizing its own fragility
Note:BREXIT COME SIMBOLO?

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China is not a democracy,
Note:UN TERZO DEL MONDO

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The European Union (EU) is comprised of democracies, but actual governance has taken a strong nondemocratic turn.
Note:UE...DEMOCRAZ SOLO FORMALE

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much more of a technocracy than a democracy,
Note:Cccccccccccc

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Since 2011, the spread of financial crises around Europe has meant a dominant role for “the Troika”
Note:UN ESEMPIO CHIARO

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The European Union is also relying increasingly on its central bank for macroeconomic management
Note:ALTRA ISTITUZ NN DEMOCRAT

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the independence referendum in Scotland and the possibility of such a referendum, or some modified or proxy version thereof, in Catalonia.
Note:LADDOVE LA DEMO SI MANIFESTA

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The recent refugee crisis has mobilized public opinion
Note:IN MOLTI HANNO CHIESTO CHE LA NAZIONE PREVALGA SULL UNIONE

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The one part of the world where democratic decision making and democratic discourse most apply is—oddly enough—Latin America,
Note:SYRANO MA VERO

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Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and many other countries in the region.
Note:Ccccccccc

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even those Chinese who admire America find it hard to praise our government. The constant refrain is that American government isn’t very good at getting things done.
Note:LA DEMO NJN È MOLTO MORTO NVIDIATA

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static America has a static government,
VISTI DA FUORI