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