作者简介：Matthew Lemieux,智梦杭州外籍顾问，美国芝加哥大学政治学专业毕业。曾在弗里德伯格公司担任数字取证官， Ben May癌症研究助理。成功辅导学员录取芝加哥大学（综合5名）、圣路易斯华盛顿大学（综合14名）、加州大学伯克利分校（综合20名）等美国名校。

翻译: Summer

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Political Science is a fascinating field. It is as diverse as it is deep, covering studies that range from the convoluted practical mechanisms of government (politics) to the theoretical ideologies and structures optimal for human existence. Political Science also encompasses the more scientific arena of International Relations, which often borrows principles and techniques from mathematics, statistics, and economics. Lastly, Political Science can be anthropological, extending its discussion of ideal nation states to the varying cultures and histories around the globe. Political Science is indeed a distinguished discipline, and earns the respect of many of ournation’s top scholars, from pragmatist to theorist.

政治科学是一门极有魅力的学科。它不仅涉及广泛而且十分深刻，包括了从复杂的政府运作机制（政治）到人类存在最佳的意识形态理论的学习研究。政治科学同时也包括了国际关系学更加科学性的一方面，经常借鉴数学，统计和经济学的理论和技巧。最后，政治科学与人类学也息息相关，从它对理想的国家制度的思考一直延伸到全球不同的文化和历史。政治科学的确是一门特别的学科，并且赢得了全球顶尖的理论家和实践家们的一致尊重。

Yet, there is of course something that unites the field of Political Science, or any variation of ‘the political’: power. Power and politics go hand-in-hand, as if one were a direct effect of the other. In fact, each perpetuates the other in their causal relationship, and even further, they change in response to each other. Social scientists and great political thinkers have said quite a few different things about the nature of power and its grip on humanity, but all seem to be in agreement that there is such a thing, and that when people possess it, they tend to act in such a way that maintains or increases their power. This is the nature of the political.

当然，有一样东西将政治科学这个领域凝聚在了一起：权利。权利和政治息息相关，就好像一个是另一个的直接影响。事实上，权利和政治有着因果关系，更为甚者，它们因一方的改变而改变。社会科学家和伟大的政治思想家们关于政治对人文的影响有着不同的看法，但是他们基本同意有一样东西，人们一旦拥有了之后，他们就会想办法去保持并且增加他们的权利。这就是政治的本质。

Perhaps one of the best—and certainly most entertaining—modern demonstrations of this relationship is the new hit series, House of Cards. The series tells the story of an underdog, Frank Underwood, who bypasses the normal mechanisms of the rise to supreme political power—saintly history, politically connected family, and a whole lot of luck—to strategically and underhandedly place himself there. It seems that from the start, it is Frank’s ultimate goal to reach the highest office in the land—President of the United States—and each action he takes is merely one step in a very long, meticulously premeditated, and viciously decisive plan to do so. In a world where humans care about ideology, human rights, virtue, etc., Frank sees himself as super-human (or perhaps alter-human), compelled to develop a public image that conveys his enthusiasm and passion for such things, though he is in actuality indifferent.

或许最近火爆的电视剧《纸牌屋》是一个很好，并且毫无疑问非常有趣的对这层关系的现代演示。此剧讲述了一个失利的政治家，弗兰克安德伍德，绕过传统的步骤达到了最高权力的故事—历史，家族的政治联系和无限的运气是他能够有技巧地，不正当地将自己送上这个权力的宝座。似乎从一开始，弗兰克的最终目标就是登上权力的最高点— 美国总统— 而他做的每一件事都是整个庞大，缜密而残忍坚决的计划中的一小步。在如今，人民关心意识形态，人权，美德的社会中，弗兰克视自己为超人类（或者说变种人），他被迫地去塑造一个对这些事情有着无限热情的公众形象，虽然他本身一点也不关心。

Now this is all very interesting, and sure it makesfor a riveting plot, but the average viewer must have one burning question for Congressman Underwood: why? One would like to imagine that a political candidate, staying true to the principles envisioned by the Founding Fathers and set forth in our Constitution, would serve for the best of the nation and its people. One must imagine that these candidates find a great deal of importance in the policies that affect the American way of life, and wield their own passionate ideas and opinions on them. “Why” indeed then seems like a very natural inquiry to have for Frank Underwood, who cares little the actual effect of policy on the American people, unless of course it also affects his personal agenda. Anyone can acknowledge the power hierarchy of the political system inAmerica. The confusion comes when one considers what a politician would use his or her greater power for, if not to align policy to be more in keeping with his or her values for what is best for the country. In other words, why would anyone want to be President of theUnited Statesif they have very little interest in the job or what he or she could essentially do with it?

这一切都非常的有趣，并且使得剧情引人入胜，但是普通的观众对安德伍德议员有一个抛不开的疑问：为什么？人们常常觉得一个政治候选人，遵照着建国之父宪法中的理念，应该为让国家和人民更好而服务。人们一定觉得这些候选人非常重视这些会改变美国人民生活的政策，并且将他们自己热衷的想法和建议付诸实践。“为什么”就变成了一个非常自然的疑问，因为弗兰克安德伍德完全不在乎这些政策对美国人民的影响，当然除非这些政策影响到了他个人的计划。所有人都清楚美国政治系统的权利等级。当人们以为政治家会用他们的权利来制定出和他们的个人价值观相符合，为国家大局而考虑的政策时，他们就会对弗兰克的所作所为感到困惑。换句话说，如果一个人对美国总统能真正做的事情不感兴趣的话，他为什么不顾一切地要成为总统呢？

Yet, the political scientist does not ask Congressman Underwood “Why”. The political scientist knows that while Frank’s distinctly deliberate and deceitful nature would seem“crazy” to most people, it is indeed very sane. While probably sociopathic, Frank’s behavior is not only rational and calculated, but also sensible in its aims. In political science, we understand that power is one of the few things that can be a first-order value:something valuable simply in its own right. It doesn’t really matter what Frank could do with his power; it’s simply rational, human nature to desire more of it. In all fairness, this view begins to sound biased towards the Realist camp of thought (as opposed to the Liberal camp),and there’s certainly room for disagreement. However, this conception of power is rather popular in both camps, and has been around for a long time. Many of the great classical political thinkers, such as Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, and even Aristotle break down the relationship between power and the political in away that makes Frank Underwood more and more understood. If you’ve studied and reflected well enough on the topic, the real question seems to be: why aren’t we all like Frank Underwood? The dichotomy between Frank’s projected public self and his private self—revealed only to the viewer and his inner circle—is the heart of his success in life, and its brilliance owes itself to a strategy as old as politics itself. The political scientist might recall, it was Thrasymachus in his battle with Socrates over the definition of “justice” who posited, ‘the most powerful man is he who appears publically to be the most just, but who is actually most unjust’.

然而，政治科学家不会问弗兰克为什么。政治科学家知道虽然弗兰克无比虚伪而狡诈的品质在常人眼中是不可理喻的，这其实是非常合理的。虽然或许对社会漠不关心，弗兰克的行为不仅是合理而有计划的，他的目的也是非常理性的。在政治科学中，我们理解政治是为数不多的具有本身价值的东西。弗兰克用他的权利能干什么并不重要；对权利的渴望是符合逻辑和人性的。平心而论，这个观点可能对于现实主义学派来说有些偏见（与自由主义学派相反），同时这当然也有争论的空间。但是，这个权利的概念在两个学派中接受度都很高。许多著名的古典政治思想家，比如托马斯霍布斯，马基雅弗利，甚至于亚里士多德将权利和政治的关系分开分析，使得弗兰克安德伍德的行为更加容易被理解了。如果你学习并深刻反思过这个问题，真正的问题应该是：为什么我们不和弗兰克安德伍德一样呢？弗兰克的公众形象和只为少数人和观众所知的真正的自己之间的差别正是他成功的核心。政治科学家或许会想起理想国中，苏格拉底和拉雪麦格之间对“正义”定义的辩论提出了“最强大的人就是在众人眼中最有正义感而事实上却最不正义的人”的观点。

Clearly, Frank Underwood’s story is one that representsthe relationship between politics and power, which serves to explain human nature. But you don’t have to look to politicians like Underwood to observe political behavior. Politics are simply a sign of intelligence,and the degree to which it can be witnessed varies among the different species of the animal kingdom. Primates, our closest relatives, are very political, complete with acknowledged hierarchies and political benefits. Since politics are simply humanity’s practical response to shifts and voids in power, it seems only natural that power be the ultimate good—the ultimate aim of our intellect. Clearly, our discussions of “virtue” and“absolute truth” have rendered us much more confused than our Ape cousins about the true centrality of power, but perhaps if we all take a little bit more time getting to know the real Frank Underwood, we stand a chance.

显然的，弗兰克安德伍德的故事展示了政治和权利之间的关系，这解释了人性。但你不需要从像安德伍德一样的政治家身上来观察政治行为。政治是智慧的一种体现，并且在不同的物种之间有不同程度的体现。灵长类动物的社会，我们的近亲，就非常具有政治性，由等级制度和政治利益组成。由于政治只是单纯的人类对权利变化做出的务实的回应，将权利作为最终的利益似乎是最自然的—人类智慧的最终目的。显然，我们对“美德”和“绝对真理”的讨论比起我们的猿类同胞带来了更大的困惑，但是或许当我们都多花一点时间来了解一下真正的弗兰克安德伍德，我们将得到更深刻的理解。

文中生词：

Convoluted: 1）盘绕的，卷曲的；复杂的 回旋；2）卷绕，盘旋( convolute的过去式和过去分词 )

• (especially of an argument,story, or sentence) extremely complex and difficult to follow.

"Its convoluted narrative encompasses all manner ofdigressions"

Synonyms: complicated, complex,involved, elaborate, serpentine, labyrinthine, tortuous, tangled, Byzantine

Antonyms: straightforward

• (technical) intricatelyfolded, twisted, or coiled.

"walnuts come in hard and convoluted shells"

Anthropological：of or concerned with the science of anthropology人类学的,人类学上点击查看……点击查看……

pragmatist：an adherent of philosophical pragmatism； aperson who takes a practical approach to problems and is concerned primarilywith the success or failure of her actions实用主义者,爱管闲事的人

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underhandedly：slyly and secretly低手地，秘密地

meticulously：in ameticulous manner细致地；一丝不苟地；拘泥地

riveting：capableof arousing and holding the attention吸引人的；铆接；用铆钉固定；集中于…（rivet的ing形式）

hierarchy： a series of ordered groupings of people or things within a system；the organization of people at different ranks in an administrativebody层级；等级制度

sociopathic：of or relating to a sociopathic personality disorder反社会的

dichotomy：beingtwofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses二分法；两分；分裂；双歧分

posit：(logic)a proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logicalreasoning ；put (something somewhere) firmly；put before ；takeas a given; assume as a postulate or axiom安置；假定；假设；设想

【智梦简介】

智梦是一家专注美国本科留学的教育咨询机构。

我们的使命：

“智梦教育团队深知留学申请关系到学生及其家长的前途和未来，我们将竭尽所能帮助每一位智梦学员发掘其潜在的特质，以开放透明的申请方式，让他们能不留遗憾的争取到自己的理想学校。与此同时，培养他们成为诚实守信、独立思考、德才兼备的国际化人才。”
我们的愿景：
“智梦教育将成为一所发掘学术兴趣，培养学术能力，塑造具有公民意识的新时代留学生的学校。”