Over the past decade, there has been a growing consensus(共识) that democracies around the world are facing a crisis from within(从内部). According to a 2025 Pew survey, nearly 60 percent of respondents in 23 countries agreed that they are “dissatisfied with democracy.” Polarization, disinformation, and disillusionment with leaders willing to break established norms for personal advantage are certainly to blame for this growing sense of dysfunction, but there is a deeper flaw in today’s democratic governments: state agencies and institutions are increasingly unable to perform the basic tasks they were designed to carry out.(极化、虚假信息和对领导人的幻灭无疑是导致这种失灵感的原因，但更深的缺陷在于政府机构无法履行基本任务。)
过去十年间，人们日益达成共识：世界各地的民主国家正面临一场内部危机。根据2025年皮尤研究中心的一项调查，23个国家中近60%的受访者表示他们“对民主感到不满”。极化、虚假信息，以及对那些为个人利益而愿意打破既定规范的领导人的幻灭，无疑是这种日益增长的失灵感的原因，但当今民主政府存在一个更深的缺陷：国家机构和组织越来越无法履行它们被设计来执行的基本任务。
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, in early 2020, the U.S. government was spending roughly $600 million a year to detect infectious diseases. Yet the virus spread undetected for a month because researchers were unable to get permission from a rigid(僵化的，死板的) bureaucracy to test the swabs that would have helped identify it. In the United Kingdom, despite the billions of dollars the government has spent on youth employment services following the pandemic, the number of young people aged 16 to 24 who are not employed, in school, or in training programs has surpassed one million—a precipitous increase of more than 300,000 in less than five years.(尽管政府花费数十亿美元，但英国未就业、未上学或未培训的年轻人数量已超百万，五年内激增30多万。) Germany, a country once known for its efficiency, now has a rail network so unreliable that it has become a national embarrassment; around 40 percent of long-distance trains arrive late.(德国曾以高效著称，如今铁路网络极不可靠，成为国家尴尬，约40%的长途列车晚点。) Across large swaths of the United States and Europe, people compare what they hear from politicians of all parties with what they see with their own eyes(亲眼), and the rhetoric does not match the reality. The result is dismay and distrust.
当新冠疫情于2020年初抵达美国时，美国政府每年花费约6亿美元用于检测传染病。然而，病毒却在一个月内未被发现地传播，因为研究人员无法获得僵化官僚机构的许可来检测那些本可帮助识别病毒的拭子。在英国，尽管政府在疫情后花费了数十亿美元用于青年就业服务，但16至24岁未就业、未上学或未参加培训项目的年轻人数量已超过一百万——在不到五年内急剧增加了30多万。德国，一个曾以高效著称的国家，如今铁路网络如此不可靠，已成为国家尴尬；约40%的长途列车晚点。在美国和欧洲的大片地区，人们将各党派政治人物的言论与亲眼所见进行比较，言辞与现实不符。结果是沮丧和不信任。
“State capacity” used to be(曾经是) a term that experts in advanced countries used when speaking of the developing world. If this country receives foreign aid, does it have the capacity to turn it into public good? Now the citizens of those donor(捐助者) countries are asking that question at home. If we pay taxes, will our government provide more of the things we need? If we engage in the political process, will we get the outcomes we seek? Increasingly, the apparent answer to these questions is no. As Brian Shearer, a regulatory expert at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, has laid out, implementing a significant new federal rule in the United States usually takes at least five years from start to finish, making it impossible for a president to deliver on a promised reform before the next election.(正如专家布莱恩·希勒所言，美国实施一项重要新联邦规则通常至少需要五年，使总统无法在下次选举前兑现改革承诺。) As a result, the basic feedback loop of democracy—candidates say what they’ll do, voters choose, results arrive, voters judge—is breaking down.(因此，民主的基本反馈循环——候选人承诺、选民选择、结果出现、选民评判——正在崩溃。) Nearly all rich democracies face some version of this crisis.
“国家能力”曾经是发达国家专家在谈论发展中国家时使用的术语。如果这个国家接受外援，它是否有能力将其转化为公共福利？现在，这些捐助国的公民正在国内提出这个问题。如果我们纳税，我们的政府会提供更多我们需要的东西吗？如果我们参与政治进程，我们会得到我们寻求的结果吗？这些问题越来越明显的答案是否定的。正如范德比尔特政策加速器的监管专家布莱恩·希勒所指出的，在美国，实施一项重要的新联邦规则通常至少需要五年时间，这使得总统无法在下一次选举前兑现承诺的改革。因此，民主的基本反馈循环——候选人说他们会做什么，选民选择，结果到来，选民评判——正在崩溃。几乎所有富裕民主国家都面临某种形式的这场危机。
TEST, LEARN, REPEAT
测试、学习、重复
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A SOLUTION
休斯顿，我们有解决方案了
THE POWER OF NOVELTY
新奇的力量
A FRONTIER MODEL FOR DEMOCRACY
民主的前沿模式