贏者全拿勝出
In American politics, there are only two major political parties — the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
美國政壇只有兩大政黨，即民主黨與共和黨。
politics(n.)政治(學)geopolitics地緣政治(學)political(adj.)政治的politician(n.)政治人物、政客、政治家
Even before the rise of these two specific parties in the 1850s, politics in the United States was always dominated by two parties.
即便在1850年代兩黨崛起前，美國政壇也一直都是由兩個政黨主導。
dominate(v.)統治、控制、擁有優勢、佔首要地位
Although third parties or independent candidates have won elections in the past, the American political system is actually designed to have only two major parties.
儘管過去第三方政黨或獨立候選人也曾勝選，但美國的政治體制實際上就是為兩黨制所設計的。
candidate(n.)候選人、考生、應徵者independent candidate獨立候選人non-partisan(adj.)無黨派的、無黨籍的
In the US political system, the president is elected with a “winner-take-all method” based on the candidate that receives the plurality.
在美國政治制度中，總統透過「贏者全拿制度」選出，亦即把票給予獲得相對多數票的候選人。
elect(v.)推選、選舉re-elect(v.)再度選上a winner-take-all method贏者全拿制度plurality(n.)多數、相對多數票majority(n.)多數票
In fact, for presidential elections, all electoral votes that belong to a state are given to the candidate that receives the plurality of votes in that state. The second-place finisher gets nothing.
事實上，就總統選舉而言，若候選人獲得一州的相對多數票，該州選舉人票全都會歸其所有，而居次者什麼都得不到。
presidential election總統選舉mayoral election市長選舉general election普選local election地方選舉national election全國選舉
As a result, this setup leads to voters choosing candidates that are most likely to win, effectively reinforcing a two-party system in which each party tries “to broaden their appeal to half the electorate – and ideally more.”
結果，這種規則導致選民傾向選擇最有可能勝選的候選人，進而有效強化了兩黨制，兩黨皆試圖「吸引半數、甚至理想半數以上的選民」。
reinforce(v.)鞏固、強化broaden(v.)擴展、拓寬broad(adj.)寬闊的appeal(n.)吸引力、魅力electorate(n.)全體選民elector(n.)選民
For voters, third parties are not usually an option as a non-Democrat or Republican even taking 25% of the vote would rarely win the plurality.
對選民而言，他們通常不會選擇第三方政黨，因為即便是拿下25％選票的非民主黨或共和黨候選人也難以獲得相對多數票。
win (have) the plurality贏得相對多數票
Therefore, voters’ limited choices to impact the outcome of an election perpetuate the American two-party political system.
因此，選民影響選舉結果的選擇有限，鞏固了美國的兩黨制。
limited(adj.)有限的、受限的perpetuate(v.)使持續、使長存、使永恆=cause sth. to continue