《乌合之众·第三编·不同群体的分类与描述·选举群体》第2节
The possession of prestige does not suffice, however, to assure the success of a candidate. The elector stickles in particular for the flattery of his greed and vanity. He must be overwhelmed with the most extravagant blandishments, and there must be no hesitation in making him the most fantastic promises. If he is a working man it is impossible to go too far in insulting and stigmatising employers of labour. As for the rival candidate, an effort must be made to destroy his chance by establishing by dint of affirmation, repetition, and contagion that he is an arrant scoundrel, and that it is a matter of common knowledge that he has been guilty of several crimes. It is, of course, useless to trouble about any semblance of proof. Should the adversary be ill-acquainted with the psychology of crowds he will try to justify himself by arguments instead of confining himself to replying to one set of affirmations by another; and he will have no chance whatever of being successful. The candidate's written programme should not be too categorical, since later on his adversaries might bring it up against him; in his verbal programme, however, there cannot be too much exaggeration. The most important reforms may be fearlessly promised. At the moment they are made these exaggerations produce a great effect, and they are not binding for the future, it being a matter of constant observation that the elector never troubles himself to know how far the candidate he has returned has followed out the electoral programme he applauded, and in virtue of which the election was supposed to have been secured.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段要证明的是，候选人的声望只是入场券，真正锁定选票的手段必须落实到对选民欲望与虚荣的直接喂养。他用了一套赤裸裸的操作链条：对选民极尽奉承与夸大承诺，对竞争对手则靠断言、重复与传染将其塑造成恶棍，且完全不需要提供证据。他特别指出，如果对手不懂群体心理而试图用论证为自己辩护，就注定失败。书面纲领不宜具体，以免日后被抓住把柄；口头纲领则可以无限夸张，因…