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VOA慢速英语--非洲人民对民主的需求下降

时间:2016-12-06 23:04:34

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AS IT IS 2016-12-05 Africans’ Demand for Democracy Declines 非洲人民对民主的需求下降

A report about a new public opinion survey shows that a ten-year-long period of Africans demanding democracy has recently ended, and such demands have been declining since then in the 16 countries the survey has regularly examined.

The report is called Do Africans Still Want Democracy? It was written by Afrobarometer, an African, non-partisan research network. Researchers spoke1 with people in 36 African nations about their political beliefs.

Robert Mattes wrote the report. He is a political studies professor and the director of the Democracy in Africa research group at the University of Cape2 Town. He is also a visiting scholar at Princeton University. He says he wanted to know if Africans want to live in a democracy or if they prefer military rule, one-party rule or a strong man who does not have to worry about elections and legislators. The survey found overall support for democracy was 46 percent.

“…and that is a significant downturn from our last surveys -- which we did in 2013, 2014 -- in which support for democracy in Africa, or demand for democracy, had reached a high point of 51 percent.”

Mattes says the survey found that the more educated people are, the more likely they are to support democracy.

“They use new media at high rates (and) they engage with the political process. And they often have a more procedural view of democracy -- they learned about it in school as elections, about legislatures, about representation, about rights and liberties.”

Mattes says people support a democracy only if it helps them economically and politically. And he says support for democracy depends upon elections being free and fair.

“…where elections are seen by people as completely aboveboard and with a high level of public integrity, demand has maintained or even increased. But where large (a) large percentage of the people have doubts about the integrity of the election, demand for democracy has dropped precipitously.”

Professor Mattes says a country’s political system can be harmed if a political party refuses to accept the results of an election.

The survey found the demand for democracy is higher in urban areas and among those with a high school or university education. Middle-class business people and professionals and those who work in offices also had a higher level of support for democracy.

“That is the group we think have been rising in Africa over the last five to 10 years with the sustained growth that many countries had. People with a job are much more likely to support democracy than people who are partially3 employed or unemployed4.”

The report notes that Africa is far more democratic than it used to be. It says “more than half of all Africans today live in functioning multiparty electoral democracies that are demonstrably freer than were the military or one-party regimes that previously5 dominated the continent.”

Words in This Story

downturn – n. a situation in which something (such as business or economic activity) decreases or becomes worse (usually singular)

engage with – phrasal verb to give serious attention to (someone or something)

procedural – adj. describing a series of actions that are done in a certain way or order; an established or accepted way of doing something

aboveboard – adj. open, honest and legal

integrity – n. the quality of being honest and fair

precipitous – adj. happening in a very quick and sudden way

sustain – v. to provide what is needed for (something or someone) to exist, continue, etc.

regime – n. a form of government


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1 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
2 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
3 partially yL7xm     
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲
参考例句:
  • The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
  • The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
4 unemployed lfIz5Q     
adj.失业的,没有工作的;未动用的,闲置的
参考例句:
  • There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
  • The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。
5 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。

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