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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Many Berliners say repeat elections are a sign of the city's deeper dysfunction
German efficiency is a stereotype2 challenged by the city of Berlin. Its civil government is so dysfunctional that the city had to re-do municipal elections over the weekend.
ASMA KHALID, HOST:
So there's a cultural stereotype that implies Germans are organized and efficient. Local elections in Berlin are proving that is not necessarily true. In 2021, Berlin's state and municipal election was so chaotic3, the results were annulled4. Voters went to the polls again yesterday for a redo. Many Berliners see the debacle as a sign of deeper problems with how the city is run. Esme Nicholson reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUBWAY TRAIN APPROACHING)
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE5: It's morning rush hour and Andreas Schmidt is late for work because of delays on the subway.
ANDREAS SCHMIDT: (Through interpreter) Nothing in this city works anymore. It's not just the subway system. Dealing6 with authorities and getting paperwork done is agony.
NICHOLSON: Schmidt has just moved house and is required to register his new address with the city authorities in person within two weeks. But he can't get an appointment. Above ground, Deniz Atas is waiting for a bus and has time to share her latest administrative7 nightmare.
DENIZ ATAS: (Through interpreter) I became a German citizen years ago, but the authorities recently asked to see my certificate of naturalization, which I've lost. I can't get a replacement8 copy, and they won't accept my German passport, even though it was issued by the very same office.
NICHOLSON: Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel runs a column that scrutinizes9 this kind of Kafkaesque bureaucracy. Laurenz Maroldt is the newspaper's editor-in-chief and has reported on the capital since reunification.
LAURENZ MAROLDT: (Through interpreter) City officials have perfected a kind of well-ordered, systematic10 incompetence11. When there's a problem, it lands on somebody else's desk. And when there's money to dish out, everybody is suddenly involved. Either way, nothing gets done.
NICHOLSON: Maroldt says this coordinated12 gridlock is a liability.
MAROLDT: (Through interpreter) A school has to jump through up to 14 administrative hoops13 to get the city to paint the zebra crossing outside the entrance, meaning it can take years.
NICHOLSON: The structure of Berlin's government has something to do with all this. Berlin has a senate which functions as both city hall and state government, but its authority is challenged by no fewer than 12 district councils.
MAROLDT: (Through interpreter) Quite often Berlin's state government ends up dealing with the smallest problems, while the district administrations discuss world peace.
NICHOLSON: Berlin's bureaucratic14 morass15 counters the city's more auspicious16 international image. Its rich history, its art scene and nightlife have long been a draw to outsiders. More recently, the city has attracted tech entrepreneurs. Christian17 Miele is a venture capital investor18 and chairs the board of the German Startup Association.
CHRISTIAN MIELE: Berlin became an international startup hub not because of Berlin, but despite Berlin.
NICHOLSON: He says the city authorities have a lot of catching19 up to do when it comes to meeting business needs.
MIELE: It's getting foreign talent into the city, like getting visas. It's dealing with the financial authorities - obviously, they're slow. This is not how you should work with a startup founder20 who's expected to be, like, really, really fast.
NICHOLSON: After riots on New Year's Eve led to attacks on firefighters and ambulance crews, the conservative CDU party called Berlin a failed city-state. It and conservative press blamed it on, quote, "people with a migration21 background," a euphemism22 in Germany for anyone who's not white.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUS PASSING)
NICHOLSON: Back at the bus stop, Atas is still waiting. With Turkish parents, Atas is also considered a person with a migration background, even though she was born in Germany.
ATAS: (Through interpreter) The fact the city won't accept my German passport is not only absurd, it makes me question whether I'm really German in their eyes.
NICHOLSON: She says this kind of structural23 racism24 is the other systemic problem Berlin's new city government must address.
For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 stereotype | |
n.固定的形象,陈规,老套,旧框框 | |
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3 chaotic | |
adj.混沌的,一片混乱的,一团糟的 | |
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4 annulled | |
v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 );取消;使消失;抹去 | |
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5 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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6 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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7 administrative | |
adj.行政的,管理的 | |
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8 replacement | |
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品 | |
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9 scrutinizes | |
v.仔细检查,详审( scrutinize的第三人称单数 ) | |
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10 systematic | |
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的 | |
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11 incompetence | |
n.不胜任,不称职 | |
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12 coordinated | |
adj.协调的 | |
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13 hoops | |
n.箍( hoop的名词复数 );(篮球)篮圈;(旧时儿童玩的)大环子;(两端埋在地里的)小铁弓 | |
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14 bureaucratic | |
adj.官僚的,繁文缛节的 | |
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15 morass | |
n.沼泽,困境 | |
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16 auspicious | |
adj.吉利的;幸运的,吉兆的 | |
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17 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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18 investor | |
n.投资者,投资人 | |
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19 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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20 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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21 migration | |
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙 | |
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22 euphemism | |
n.婉言,委婉的说法 | |
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23 structural | |
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的 | |
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24 racism | |
n.民族主义;种族歧视(意识) | |
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