| CORKSCREW Diaries(米国編） |
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The comparison of the different electoral systems The process of election for each country reflects its political situation through the comparison of the different electoral systems. The United States has a single-seat districting system. Switzerland has a proportional-representation system. Japan has a single-seat constituency system combining the proportional-representation system. China has a single-party regime system. Each country’s electoral system will be discussed in the following paragraphs. The United States has a single-seat districting system. It is the first past the post system. Therefore, the major political party has a great advantage. In the States, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are representative political parties. One or the other assumes the reins of government. Consequently, the government is stable. However, someone can be elected gaining a few percent of the majority votes, the other votes seem to be lost. A huge and multiethnic country like the United States needs to constitute a stable and strong government to govern the country effectively. A proportional-representation system, which was adopted in Switzerland, means that every vote counts equally in the overall outcome of the bodies of representatives in the system. Therefore, creating a close match between the percentage of votes that political parties receive and the number of seats within the Lower House, this system is able to reflect the minority opinion of the country. Multiethnic countries like Switzerland think a great deal of the minority opinion and have adopted the proportional-representation system. At times, there is the case that one party cannot assume the reins of government, so a fragile coalition government is sometimes launched. Since 1994, the Japanese electoral system has moved from a multiple-seat constituency system into a single-seat constituency system combining the proportional representation of the Lower House. Japan aimed to create a more stable government. Introducing a new system made it possible to develop two governable political parties like the United States. On the other hand, the adoption of proportional representation also makes it possible to reflect the minority opinion. Now, two big parties, the Liberty Democracy Party and the Democracy Party, compete against each other. The aim of reform is being achieved. A single-party regime system, which was adopted in China, means that the government is communist and exemplifies strong power over the whole country. Though the single-party regime cannot be democratic, the strong power is required to rule over numerous people. Consequently, it could be the most suitable method in China. Tracing the Chinese history, it is obvious that only the powerful centralized government could rule the country for a long period. Indeed, past Chinese dynasties, Tang, Ming, Qing, and the present People's Republic of China succeeded in ruling the country with strong power. “Democracy” is the ideal political system. According to Abraham Lincoln, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” This expresses the idea of democracy. In a democracy, people have a part in the government policy. In other words, people are responsible for their decisions. However, the ideal system is not always the best. Each country should have a suitable system. The powerful reins of government should govern a huge country efficiently. On the other hand, multiethnic countries are required to reflect minority opinions. |
四苦八苦しながら仕上げにかかっているエッセイをペイジに見てもらい、 随分と良くなっていると褒められた。 自分が進歩しているんだったらうれしい。 自分であんまりよく分からないだけに。 選挙制度の比較なんてのがテーマで、 自分でよくこんなテーマを選んだものだと思いつつも、 ただ単に大学の時にやったテーマの焼き直しだったりもするんだけれど。 でも、単純に英訳するだけでも、 専門語を訳すのは難しい。なぜだろう。 少しずつでも、 ちゃんと分からないことは分からないと言えるようになった。 アメリカではこれが当たり前なのかも知れないけれども、 日本人の僕にとっては、 ある程度知っている人にじゃないとそんなことなかなか言えなくって、 そういうことじゃダメでちゃんと分からなければ聞かなきゃダメだよ、 ってことは分かっているんだけど。 今日は昼間にマシューに会って、 大学の肉屋(大学のラボのものらしい)で肉を買って、 BSEの心配の無いTボーンステーキ肉を買った。 マシューはかなりストレンジなアメリカンだけど、 それでも面白くていいヤツだし、 今の僕は少しでも多くの言葉を話す機会が欲しい。 時代劇で日本語を覚えてかなり変な日本語を話す彼は、 なんと暴れん坊将軍と水戸黄門を知らなかったので、教えてあげた。 彼は7月から甲府に行ってイーオンで教えるそうなので、(寂しい限りだ) 時代劇もたっぷり見られることだろう。 悪人を成敗するって英語で何と言うか分からなくなって辟易した。 punish wicked(bad) people だった。 僕の語彙はこうやって増えていく。 そしてカンバセーションパートナーのマイローと会って、 ご飯を食べてフリスビーで遊ぶ。 宿題があるからあんまり付き合えなかったのは辛かったが、 なんだかたくさん英語を話して聞いた気がする。 そういう意味ではいい日だった。 でももっともっとなんとかしたい。 |
お元気ですか? 僕は元気です。 ドンペリを一緒に飲んでからもう2ヶ月が過ぎてしまいました。 何だかとても不思議な一年でした。 一生の中ですごく印象的な一年になるんだろうな。 仕事以外をとてもよく思い出します。 こちらでは誰も一緒にお酒を飲んでくれないので、 仕方がないから自分一人でビールを飲んでいます。 でも結局二日に一回ぐらいしか飲んでいません。 こっちの気候は乾燥しているのでビールが美味しく飲めます。 今ウチにはハイネケンとベルギー系とアイリッシュ系のビールがあります。 アメリカにはビールの種類がたくさんあるんです。 でもやっぱりハイネケンが一番美味しい気がするのは、 あの夏フェスの時の印象が強すぎるからでしょうか。 モントリオールの有名レストランで昼間にグラスワインを飲んだら、 なんと1500円もしました。ちょっとしか入ってないのに。 すげえ美味しかったけど。 でもグラスワインですぐに赤くなっちゃうところは相変わらずです。 カルト宗教雑誌総決起集会には行けなくなってしまったの? キャンプ? 仕事は仕方がないとは言っても辛いね。 来年こそは。 でもフェスは、広島でも蝦夷でも幕張でも苗場でも、 行こうと思えばまだまだあるよ。 Nano Mugen Fes.もあるよ。Eプラスから案内が来ていたよ。 今すぐ申し込むんだ! そう言いながら相変わらず僕はラッドやエルレを聴いています。 彼らを聴きながら、あの夏の日や、 ブリッツの最後列を思い出します。 ちゃんと僕も読んでるよ。 |
会議のためモントリオールから帰ってきて、 様々なことが足りないことに気がついた。 やる気とかモチベーションとか何とかかんとか。 これで後しばらくは此地で勉強に専念出来るのだから、 もう少し頑張らねばならない。 まったく一週間も会議に出てみたものの、 話を聞いてそれで終わってしまった。 ヒトと話すのが好きなくせに、 ヒトに話しかけるのが苦手だって言うのは、 困ったものだなあと思う。 ４８日も経ったのに何をしているのだろう。 明日から頑張るぞと言う事を何度言ったのか分からないが、 それでもやはり走り続けなければなるまい。 |
二日連続で徹夜しかけて作ったプレゼン。 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for giving me a chance to make this presentation. Today, I would like to speak about Japanese History. Japanese History can be divided roughly into 4 parts; the ancient times, the middle ages, the modern age, and the present age. This presentation is based on my opinion. I tried to generalize, however, the historical understanding of Asia and Japan is quite sensitive. When Julius Caesar founded the Roman Empire in the 1st century, Japan was less civilized compared to the rest of the world. People lived in Japan by hunting and gathering. Agricultural life was introduced only in the 2nd century, and then “small nations” were founded. Japan was forming the foundation of the nation. Therefore, Japan had imported advanced political systems and technology from China and Korea. Moreover, Japan adopted the religion of Buddhism, and Chinese characters. At that time these countries were much more civilized. Japan developed through being influenced by other cultures. Japan began using writing characters from China and developed their own character system. During the ancient times, emperors and nobles ruled the country. They sent many students to China to study. Japan gradually civilized and dominated their culture. Finally, Japan stopped dispatching Japanese envoys to China in 894 because of political instability. At that time, Japanese society had clearly become more civilized, and Japan developed their culture once again through the influence of other countries. Japanese is good at imitating other cultures and traditions. Japan has absorbed many outer influences and has further developed. This attribute has succeeded in presenting Japanese culture. The spirit behind our acceptance of outer influences has made us generous and has aided our development. From the middle age to the modern age, Japanese warriors we call “samurai” ruled the country. They deprived political power from the nobles by force of arms. The feudal system was founded. At times it was peaceful, but there was also catastrophic wars. The 15th and 16th centuries are called, “the age of provincial wars”. Warring lords battled each other. In this era, Christianity and guns were brought into Japan. Guns were brought in 1543, and Christianity was brought in 1549. This introduction occupies an important place in Japanese history. War tactics were completely innovated by guns. Before the arrival of guns, bows and arrows were used in the war. Guns made it possible to shoot long at the enemy. Making full use of guns, the reunification of Japan was finally of achieved in 1590. At first the Christian religion was accepted by the Japanese. Missionary priests brought foreign articles and Lords permitted the importation of guns and foreign articles. Christianity was forbidden in the first part of the 17th century. Christianity preached that all men were equal. This thought was injurious to the Japanese feudal system. The status distinctions were very important for ruling classes. Christian thoughts were directly opposite of Japanese beliefs. In 1637, Christians revolted against the Japanese law, but the revolt was soon stifled. From then on, Christianity was strictly suppressed. There remained a few hidden Christians. They had to practice their religion secretly until the new government ensured their freedom of belief in the 19th century. After the revolution, the Japanese government was afraid of the Christian influence, so it decided to close itself off from the outside world and break off relations with other countries. In addition, the temporal ruler of Japan put the government on a firm foundation. As a result, from 17th century till mid 19th century, Japanese basically enjoyed the peace for about 250 years with a few exceptions. This is worthy of special mention in the because it is quite hard to keep peace for such a long time. In 1853, the peace was finally broken by the arrival of the black ships of Commodore Perry. He belonged to the U.S. Navy and requested that the Japanese government open the port and provide them with fuel, water, and food. He threatened them with modern weaponry. Japan had to be compliant. In addition, a short while later, the United States pressed Japan to sign a treaty of commerce to develop a new market. The United States pointed out the possibility that other western countries such as the United Kingdom or France may invade Japan. The U.S. convinced Japan that it would be better to cooperate with the United States. Japan finally decided to sign a treaty. However, this treaty was unequal. Japan was not able to control custom taxes, and Japan could not judge foreign criminals in their country. In 1868, the new government was founded. The present Japanese government is based on this government. During this period of modernization Japan rapidly adopted Western politics, laws, education, army system, technology, and culture. We call it the “Meiji Restoration”. Japan has succeeded in Industrialization prior to other Asian countries. The victory against China in 1895, and Russia in 1905, made Japan a world power. However, Japan moved towards militarism in the 1930s. Finally, Japan invaded neighboring countries with much bloodshed in World War II. Japan was sorely defeated. The Japanese have not forgotten the atrocities they committed during the war. Neighboring countries have also not forgotten their past acts of aggression and colonialism. Now the present generation has to achieve a new relationship with neighboring countries. Japan and other Asian countries common need to cooperate with neighboring countries economically and culturally. This will bring prosperity to Asia as a whole. Thank you for listening |
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