The chaotic 2016 presidential election has highlighted the defects in the US election system and the dysfunction of democracy. The "email-gate" uncovered by the release of the Democratic National Committee emails stunned the world, and showed that the so-called fair selection of candidates was anything but. Meanwhile, whether the outspoken and reckless real-estate mogul Donald Trump wins the race or not, he has irreversibly damaged US democracy already.

　　2016年总统选举乱象已经凸显了美国选举制度的弊端和民主障碍。民主党全国委员会邮件泄露揭开的“邮件门”震惊了全世界，并表明所谓的候选人公平选举只不过是一场幻象。同时，无论口无遮拦、不计后果的房地产大亨唐纳德·特朗普是否赢得竞选，他早就一发不可收拾地损害了美国民主。

　　The email scandal revealed the black box of how party elites manipulate the presidential election, as it showed the party establishment and the Democratic National Committee violated the neutrality principle by working with the Hillary Clinton campaign team to help her clinch the Democratic nomination. For this purpose, they attempted to attack her rival Bernie Sanders’ ethnic identity as a Jew. And they went so far as to plan cyberattacks on the supporters of Sanders. When the scandal was uncovered, the supporters of Sanders were furious but the candidate himself was calm, as if unsurprised by the shenanigans against him.

　　邮件丑闻揭露了党派精英操纵总统选举的黑暗内幕，党派机构和民主党全国委员会违法中立原则，与希拉里阵营勾结以帮助希拉里赢得民主党提名。为了达到目的，他们试图拿伯尼·桑德斯(希拉里的对手)的犹太人民族身份进行攻击。同时，他们还计划网络攻击桑达斯的支持者。当这一丑闻被曝光，桑达斯的支持者感到十分愤怒，但是他本人却十分镇定，好像对这一针对他的鬼把戏并不感到意外。

　　Meanwhile, the Democratic camp has made great efforts to defame Trump by highlighting his discriminatory words against women, the disabled and minority groups, his past bankruptcies, and his edgy temperament that the Democrats say make him unfit to be the president. Interestingly this is the very image he wants to present to voters.

　　同时，民主党阵营还大力损坏特朗普的名誉，突出强调她对女性、残疾人和少数民族的歧视性言论、曾经的破产经历以及他那暴躁的脾气，民主党人表示，这些都使得他不配当总统。有趣的是，这正是他想要展示给选民们的形象。

　　Second, the de facto two-party system and the winner-takes-all delegates counting system make extreme candidates stand out in the primaries. Therefore, moderate and rational candidates are at a disadvantage.

　　第二，事实上的两党制度以及胜者为王的的代表们掌控着该制度，这使得极端候选人在初选中显得十分耀眼。因此，温和、理性的候选人便处于弱势。

　　Third, democracy had to yield to populism when the party was hijacked by the radical politician. The nomination of Trump clearly showed that GOP was not able to control the election process. Nor could the GOP abandon the radical candidate, rather it had to flow with the populist trend. Thus, democracy has been distorted and does not accurately reflect the people’s will.

　　第三，当激进的政治家夺过党派大权之时，民主不得不让步于民粹主义。特朗普的提名就清楚地表明共和党无法控制选举过程。共和党不能抛弃激进候选人，它不得不跟随民粹主义潮流。因此，民主被损，也无法准确反映出人民的意愿。

　　The 2016 presidential election has made one thing clear, the US needs political reform.

　　2016年总统选举已经使得一件事情明确，美国需要进行政治改革。

（编辑：何莹莹）