很多华裔来美国的时间都不是很长，由于各种原因对于美国政治的概念不完全清楚。比如有人一听民主党就凭字面认为它是提倡民主的党派，虽然这风马牛不相及，可是起了个好名字也占很多便宜啊！因此，译者觉得有必要再次把两大党派的根本区别，根据完全第三方的汇总进行一下翻译分享。
 
它们的根本区别主要表现在以下11条：

1. Philosophy of Responsibility 责任之哲学

Republican: The cornerstone of Republican philosophy is the belief that each person is responsible for his or her own place in society. Individuals are encouraged by the Republican Party to work to secure the benefits of society for themselves, their families, and for those who are unable to care for themselves.

共和党人的哲学基石信念是，每一个人都为他或她自己在社会中的位置负责任。共和党鼓励个人通过劳动/工作为他们自己、他们的家庭、以及为那些不能照顾自己的人们争取社会的好处/利益。

Democrat: Democrats are more willing to subordinate individual rights to the assumed needs of the group. They assume that society is collectively responsible for each of its members. They place less emphasis on individual’s enterprise and initiative.

民主党人更愿意支配个体权利、使其从属于假定的群体需要。他们假定一个社会是集体共同为其中的每个成员负责。他们较少强调个体创业和创新。

2. Government & The Governed 政府与被统治

Republicans believe that government should be limited to doing for people those things which they cannot do for themselves. The right to determine individual destiny should lie in the hands of the individuals. Similarly, Republicans believe governmental power and resources should be kept close to the people, through their state and community leaders, rather than centralized in distant big government.

共和党人认为政府应只限于为人民做那些人民自己不能为自己做的事情。决定个人命运的权力应该把握在个人手中。类似的是，共和党人相信政府的权力和资源应该通过各州和社区的领导人，保持在靠近人民的地方，而不是集中在遥远的大政府。

Recent Democrat administrations have pushed for more and more centralized power in Washington,with secondary consideration for the rights of individual citizens and communities. This has led to increasingly more federal controls and regulations, often in the hands of unelected bureaucrats unaware of the concerns and needs of local citizens - and causing a severe erosion of local government across the country.

最近的民主党政府一直在把权力越来越集中地推向华盛顿，把对公民个人和社区权利的考虑摆在次要位置。这就造成了越来越多的联邦管制及规定，常常使得权力落在了未经选举的官僚手中。而这些官僚意识不到本地市民的关注和需要-因而引起了全国各地的对地方政府权力的严重侵蚀。

3. Economic Policy 经济政策

Republicans believe in the competitive free-enterprise system. Individuals must be free to use their talents. This is the key to personal and national prosperity. Republicans believe that the only limits to an individual's opportunity to succeed are the limits of his or her own initiative and enterprise. 

共和党人相信竞争性的自由创业体系。个体必须自由地运用自己的才能。这是个体与国家繁荣的关键所在。共和党人相信个体成功机会的唯一限制是他或她自己主动创新和创业的限制。

Democrats say that the economy is too complicated to be left to free enterprise alone, and therefore must be subjected to ever-increasing controls by the federal government. They say that we are “entering an era of limitations” and therefore must lower our individual economic expectations.

民主党人说, 经济太复杂了, 不能单靠自由创业,因此必须受到联邦政府不断增加的控制。他们说, 我们正在“进入一个限制的时代”, 因此必须降低我们个体的经济期望。

4. Foreign Policy 对外政策

Republicans believe that peace and freedom can be protected only if America maintains a defense force strong enough to deter any aggressor. Republicans shun away from the paternalism of the 50s and encourage other nations to shoulder responsibilities for their own problems. Republicans oppose unnecessary intervention in the internal affairs of other nations and stress helping our friends around the globe develop the skills and strengths necessary to protect themselves. 

共和党人认为, 只有美国保持强大到足以威慑任何侵略者的防卫力量, 和平与自由才能得到保护。共和党人避开了50s 的家长作风, 鼓励其他国家为自己的问题承担责任。共和党人反对对其他国家的内部事务进行不必要的干预, 并强调帮助我们全球的朋友发展保护自己所需的技能和力量。

The Democrat party has vacillated between extreme isolationism, intervention, and confrontation tactics in cases like Vietnam, Cuba, and Korea. This inconsistent foreign policy has confused our allies and encouraged our potential enemies.

民主党在极端孤立主义、干预和对抗策略之间摇摆，例如在越南、古巴和韩国等国家的政策上。这种不一致的外交政策混淆了我们的盟友, 并鼓励我们潜在的敌人。

5. Taxes & Spending 税收与支出

Republicans consistently strive to cut governmental spending and to eliminate costly overlapping and unnecessary governmental programs. Because Republicans believe that the individual should control his or her own and the government's pocketbook, they believe that tax increases should be voted on by the people.

共和党人一贯努力削减政府开支, 消除昂贵的支出重叠和不必要的政府项目。因为共和党人认为每个个体应该控制自己和政府的钱袋,他们认为增加税收的事应该由人民投票来定。

The Democrat view is that the federal government knows how and where to spend money for local needs better than elected community leaders, and federal bureaucrats should continue to control the flow of funds to the states and localities and dictate how the taxpayers' money will be spent.

民主党人的观点是, 联邦政府知道如何和在哪里花钱来满足当地的需要, 而不是民选的社区领导人, 联邦官员应该继续控制资金流向各州和地区, 并决定纳税人的钱怎么花。

6. Abortion 堕胎

Republicans: Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.

共和党: 忠于《独立宣言》的第一个保证, 我们坚持所有人类生命的固有尊严和神圣性,并申明未出生的儿童拥有不可侵犯的基本个人生命权。

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. 

民主党坚决和明确地支持罗伊诉韦德案和妇女选择安全和合法堕胎的权利, 不论其支付能力如何, 我们反对任何和所有削弱或破坏这一权利的努力。

7. Civil Rights 民权

Republicans: We consider discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion, creed, disability, or national origin to be immoral, and we will strongly enforce anti-discrimination statues. 

共和党: 我们认为基于性别、种族、年龄、宗教、信仰、残疾或民族血统的歧视是不道德的,我们将强力执行反歧视的法规。

Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language,religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability... 

民主党将为结束基于种族、性别、民族、国籍、语言、宗教、性取向、性别认同、年龄和残疾的歧视而抗争。

8. Gun Ownership 枪支所有权

Republicans: We uphold the right of individual Americans to own firearms, a right which antedated the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment -- enabling Americans to defend themselves, their property, and communities... We recognize that gun control only affects and penalizes law-abiding citizens, and that such proposals are ineffective at reducing violent crime. 

共和党人: 我们坚持美国个人拥有枪支的权利, 这一权利先于宪法, 并得到第二修正案的庄严确认--使美国人能够保卫自己、保护他们的财产和社区.....。我们认识到枪支管制只会影响和惩罚自觉守法的公民,而且这种枪管建议在减少暴力犯罪方面是无效的。

Democrats: ...we will preserve American's Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation... We can work together to enact and enforce common-sense laws and improvements -- like closing the gun show loophole... 

民主党: 我们将保留美国的第二修正案拥有和使用枪支的权利。我们认为, 拥有枪支的权利要受到合理的管制。。。我们可以共同制定和执行常识的法律和改进--比如关闭枪支展览的漏洞。。。

9. Environment 环境

Republicans causation against the doomsday change scenarios... We can -- and should -- address the risk of climate change based on sound science without succumbing to the no-growth radicalism that treats climate questions as dogma rather that as situations to be managed responsibly.
 
共和党人的因果关系与的末日变化的情况。。。凭借完善的科学、无需屈服于僵化教条地对待气候问题的无增长激进主义，我们可以--而且应该解决气候变化的风险, 把气候变化作为可以负责任地管理的情形来对待。

Democrats: We will lead to defeat the epochal, man-made threat to the planet: climate change. Without dramatic changes, rising sea levels will flood coastal regions around the world. Warmer temperatures and declining rainfall will reduce crop yields, increasing conflict, famine, disease, and poverty.

民主党: 我们将会战胜划时代的、人为造成的对地球的威胁的气候变化。没有剧烈的变化,海平面的上升将淹没世界各地的沿海地区。逐渐变暖的气温和降雨量减少将降低农作物产量, 加剧冲突、饥荒、疾病和贫困。

10. Energy 能源

Republicans: If we are to have the resources we need to achieve energy independence, we simply must draw more American oil from American soil. We support accelerated exploration, drilling and development in America -- Republicans support [solar and wind energy] and other alternative energy sources, including geothermal and hydropower, and anticipate technological developments that will increase their economic viability.

共和党: 如果我们要拥有实现能源独立所需的资源, 我们就必须从美国的土壤中获取更多的美国石油。我们支持加速在美国勘探, 钻探和开采-共和党人支持 [太阳能和风能] 以及其它替代能源,包括地热和水电, 并预计技术发展将增加其经济可行性。

Democrats: ...We know we can't drill our way to energy independence and so we must summon all of our ingenuity and legendary hard work and we must invest in research and development, and deployment of renewable energy Technologies - such as solar, wind, geothermal, as well as technologies to store energy through advanced batteries and clean upour coal plants... 

民主党: ...我们知道, 我们不能钻探我们的道路达到能源独立,所以我们必须召唤我们所有的聪明才智和传奇的辛苦劳作, 我们必须投资于对可再生能源技术的研究开发，和部署,如太阳能, 风能, 地热,以及通过先进的电池储存能源的技术并且清理我们的燃煤电厂。

11. Same-Sex "Marriage" 同性“婚姻”

Republicans: ...we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives. 

共和党: 我们呼吁宪法修正案,充分保护婚姻作为一个男人和一个女人的结合,从而使法官不能作出其它等价与它的安排。在没有国家修正案的情况下, 我们支持各州人民通过启动州立倡议确保传统婚姻的权利。

Democrats: We support the full inclusion of all families, including same-sex couples, in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits, and protections. We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act. We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us. 

民主党: 我们支持在我们国家的生活中的所有家庭, 包括同性伴侣, 并支持（他们）分享同等的责任, 享受同等的福利和受到同等的保护。我们将制定一项全面的两党就业非歧视法案。我们反对《婚姻保护法》和所有利用这一问题来分裂我们的企图。