美国需要通过公民大会来推行社会保障制度改革。格伦·哈伯德指出，鉴于政界人士应对乏力，借鉴欧洲的成功经验不失为一种良策。
America needs a citizens’ assembly to reform Social Security With politicians flailing, it’s worth trying an approach that has worked in Europe, argues Glenn Hubbard Illustration: Dan Williams F THE VARIOUS fiscal challenges faced by America, the one the public feels most keenly is the looming crisis in Social Security. It also presents an opportunity for a bold reform process outside the polarised and dysfunctional electoral process, built around consulting a sample of voters directly in a citizens’ assembly.
在当前美国面临的诸多财政难题中，民众最为担忧的便是社会保障体系即将面临的危机。这一危机同时也提供了一个契机：我们可以绕过两极分化且运转失灵的选举机制，直接组织选民代表参与公民大会，以此展开大胆的改革。这种方式既能消除民众对政客的不信任，又能帮助政界人士准确掌握民众对改革的态度，可谓一举两得。
This would have the twin benefits of bypassing both voters’ mistrust of politicians and politicians’ incomplete understanding of voters’ attitudes towards reform. Voters are clearly ready for reform. Recent polling of swing-state voters by the Peterson Foundation, an organisation launched to promote fiscal responsibility, revealed broad opposition to inaction and support for reforms including raising the earnings cap subject to the payroll tax and capping Social Security benefits for better-off households.
事实上，民众早已做好了改革的心理准备。由致力于推动财政责任建设的彼得森基金会发起的近期民调显示，摇摆州的选民普遍反对对社保体系置之不理，并支持多项改革措施，比如提高工资税征收的上限，以及为高收入家庭设定社保福利领取上限。仅有17%的选民表示，他们可能会投票给那些承诺维持现有社保体系不变的候选人。
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