EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Long Road to Democracy

It is tempting to imagine that democracy, once achieved, runs on its own momentum—that the right to vote, once granted, can never be revoked. History offers little comfort for this view. The Athenians who invented popular government in the fifth century BCE watched it collapse within a few generations, and the republics of Renaissance Italy slid, one after another, back into the hands of strongmen. Democracy, it turns out, is not a destination but a practice, and like any practice it can be neglected, forgotten, or abandoned. What sustains it is rarely the formal machinery of elections alone. Ballots can be cast in dictatorships, too; what matters is whether the losers of an election accept the result and whether the winners refrain from using their victory to entrench themselves permanently. These are unwritten conventions—habits of mutual toleration and restraint—and they are far more fragile than the constitutions that historians tend to celebrate. A written charter can be honoured in the breach, its noble clauses quietly hollowed out while the document itself remains framed on the wall. The greatest threat to a democracy, then, is seldom a sudden coup. More often it is a slow erosion, in which leaders chosen by the people gradually dismantle the checks that constrain them—packing courts, muzzling the press, redrawing electoral maps—each step defensible on its own, the cumulative effect catastrophic. Citizens, accustomed to stability, may not notice the danger until the institutions they relied upon have been quietly emptied of meaning. The lesson of the long history is sobering but not despairing: democracy endures only where enough people remain willing to defend, day after day, the unglamorous norms that make self-government possible.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

  • Democracy is a fragile practice that survives only through continual effort and shared restraint, not through institutions alone.
  • Ancient and Renaissance societies were too primitive to maintain any form of democracy.
  • Democracy, once established by a constitution, becomes permanently secure against decline.
  • The main danger to modern democracies is the threat of sudden military coups.
Phrase

Democracy, it turns out, is not a destination but a practice

準1級読解政治歴史主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文全体は「民主主義は到達点ではなく日々の実践であり、放置すれば壊れる」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Democracy is a fragile practice that survives only through continual effort and shared restraint, not through institutions alone.」

正解

本文は (1) 民主主義は獲得すれば自動的に続くという思い込みを歴史が否定する→ (2) それを支えるのは選挙制度ではなく相互寛容・自制という不文律→ (3) 最大の脅威は緩やかな侵食であり、人々が日々規範を守る覚悟がある所でのみ存続する、という構成。よって「民主主義は脆い実践で、制度だけでなく継続的努力と共有された自制によってのみ存続する」が主旨。

  • 「Democracy, once it has been established by a written constitution, becomes permanently secure against any decline.」

    = 憲法で確立すれば永続的に安泰 ━ 本文は冒頭でこの見方を『History offers little comfort for this view』と明確に否定している。

  • 「The ancient and the Renaissance societies alike were far too primitive to maintain any form of democracy at all.」

    = 古代・ルネサンス社会は原始的すぎた ━ 本文はそれらを『原始的』とは述べず、民主主義の脆さを示す例として挙げているだけ。

  • 「The main danger facing all of the modern democracies today is the constant threat of a sudden military coup.」

    = 主な危険は突然の軍事クーデター ━ 第3段は『最大の脅威はクーデターであることは稀』と述べており正反対。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
run on one's own momentumそれ自体の勢いで進むDemocracy does not run on its own momentum.
offer little comfort for ~~を支持する材料に乏しいHistory offers little comfort for this view.
slide back into ~~へ逆戻りするRepublics slid back into tyranny.
not A but BAではなくBnot a destination but a practice
be neglected or abandoned放置・放棄されるA practice can be neglected or abandoned.
❝例文

  • Democracy is not a destination but a daily practice.

    民主主義は到達点ではなく日々の実践だ。

  • History offers little comfort for the optimist.

    歴史は楽観論者を慰めるものに乏しい。

  • Once

    stable republics slid back into autocracy. — かつて安定した共和国が独裁へと逆戻りした。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は『not A but B』のような対比構文と最終段の結論文 (democracy endures only where...) を結ぶと核心が掴める。

問 2

According to the passage, what most sustains a democracy?

  • The mere holding of elections, which guarantees democratic government.
  • A celebrated written constitution displayed in public buildings.
  • Unwritten conventions of mutual toleration and restraint among political rivals.
  • The personal strength of a single capable leader.
Phrase

habits of mutual toleration and restraint—and they are far more fragile than the constitutions

準1級読解政治歴史詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

民主主義を支えるのは選挙制度ではなく、相互寛容と自制という不文律。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Unwritten conventions of mutual toleration and restraint among political rivals.」

正解

第2段で『What sustains it is rarely the formal machinery of elections alone』と述べ、重要なのは敗者が結果を受け入れ勝者が権力を恒久化しないことだとし、これを『unwritten conventions—habits of mutual toleration and restraint』と定義する。よって『政治的ライバル間の相互寛容と自制という不文律』が正解。

  • 「mere holding of elections, which guarantees」

    = 選挙の実施が民主主義を保証する ━ 本文は『Ballots can be cast in dictatorships, too』と述べ、選挙だけでは保証にならないと否定。

  • 「celebrated written constitution displayed」

    = 称賛され掲示された成文憲法 ━ 本文は憲法より不文律の方が重要かつ脆いとし、額に飾られても空洞化しうると述べる。

  • 「personal strength of a single capable leader」

    = 一人の有能な指導者の力 ━ 本文に指導者個人の力で支えるという記述はなく、むしろ権力の恒久化を危険視している。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
the formal machinery of ~~の公式な仕組みthe formal machinery of elections
accept the result結果を受け入れるLosers accept the result.
refrain from V-ing~を控えるWinners refrain from entrenching themselves.
mutual toleration相互寛容habits of mutual toleration
be honoured in the breach建前だけ守られ実質破られるA charter honoured in the breach.
❝例文

  • Losers must accept the result of a fair election.

    敗者は公正な選挙の結果を受け入れねばならない。

  • Winners should refrain from entrenching their power.

    勝者は権力の恒久化を控えるべきだ。

  • Mutual restraint is more fragile than any constitution.

    相互の自制はいかなる憲法より脆い。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問では本文の語 (unwritten conventions / restraint) をそのまま含む選択肢が正解になりやすい。選挙=十分と断じる肢は本文の反例 (dictatorships) で消せる。

問 3

How, according to the third paragraph, does democracy most often decline?

  • Through citizens deliberately voting to abolish their own institutions at once.
  • Through the spontaneous collapse of constitutions that are poorly written.
  • Through a single dramatic coup that overthrows the government overnight.
  • Through a gradual erosion in which elected leaders dismantle restraints in steps that each seem defensible.
Phrase

More often it is a slow erosion ... each step defensible on its own, the cumulative effect catastrophic

準1級読解政治歴史詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

民主主義の衰退は突然のクーデターより、選ばれた指導者による段階的な侵食で起こる。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Through a gradual erosion in which elected leaders dismantle restraints in steps that each seem defensible.」

正解

第3段は『The greatest threat ... is seldom a sudden coup. More often it is a slow erosion』と述べ、人々に選ばれた指導者が裁判所への身内詰め込み・報道弾圧・選挙区の引き直しなどで歯止めを徐々に解体し、各段階は単独では正当化できるが累積効果は破滅的だとする。よって『各段階が正当に見える形で歯止めを解体する緩やかな侵食』が正解。

  • 「Through one single dramatic coup that manages to overthrow the entire government overnight.」

    = 一夜で政府を倒す劇的なクーデター ━ 本文は『seldom a sudden coup』と述べ、これは稀なケースとして退けられている。

  • 「Through the spontaneous collapse of any constitution that happens to have been poorly written.」

    = 粗悪な憲法の自然崩壊 ━ 本文は憲法の出来不出来ではなく、指導者による意図的な歯止め解体を衰退の原因とする。

  • 「Through the citizens deliberately voting to abolish every one of their own institutions at once.」

    = 市民が一斉に制度廃止に投票する ━ 本文では市民は危険に気づかないまま制度が空洞化するとあり、自ら一斉廃止する話ではない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
a slow erosion緩やかな侵食Democracy dies by slow erosion.
dismantle the checks歯止めを解体するLeaders dismantle the checks on power.
muzzle the press報道を封じるThe regime muzzled the press.
the cumulative effect累積的な効果The cumulative effect was catastrophic.
be emptied of meaning意味を失うInstitutions emptied of meaning.
❝例文

  • Democracies more often die by erosion than by coup.

    民主主義はクーデターより侵食で死ぬことが多い。

  • Each step was defensible, but the whole was disastrous.

    各段階は正当化できたが、全体は破滅的だった。

  • The press was gradually muzzled, year by year.

    報道は年々徐々に封じられていった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

段落指定の detail 設問はその段落だけに集中する。『seldom / More often』の対比は『突然 vs 緩やか』の選択を即決させる鍵。

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