经济学人:处于改革浪潮中的庞大机构 政府官员的经验之谈

 　　Reforming Leviathan

　　处于改革浪潮中的庞大机构

　　Mandarin¹ lessons

　　政府官员的经验之谈

　　Governments need to rethink how they reward and motivate civil servants

　　政府需要重新思考如何去奖励和提升公务员的工作动力。

　　THE French call them hauts fonctionnaires, the Germans Beamte im h?heren Dienst and the British, somewhat more economically, know them as “mandarins”. The senior echelons² of civil services are a powerful arm of the state. They implement³ the reforms dreamed up by politicians, and design public services ranging from welfare systems to prisons. Compared with private-sector⁴ bosses, the bureaucrats⁵ who manage the public sector tend to be less well paid but have more cushioned lives, with more secure jobs and far less pressure to improve productivity. Now the mandarins face change.

　　法语中称呼他们为官方人员，德语叫做高级公务员，英国则各位简短称呼公务员为政界要员。公务员的高层人员是国家的一个强大的臂膀。他们实现政客对于改革的设想，并构思计划公共服务，涵盖面从福利制度到监狱。与私营部门的老板相比，负责管理公共部门的官员往往不太高薪，但拥有更多的缓冲生活，更安全的工作，对于提高工作效率方面，其承受的压力远不如私营老板。现在的政府高级官员们面临着改变。

　　处于改革浪潮中的庞大机构.jpg

　　There has long been taxpayer⁶ fury when big projects go awry⁷. Berlin's new airport is three years overdue⁸ and predicted to cost 6 billion (8.1 billion), three times the original estimate. But voters, and thus politicians, are especially intolerant of civil-service inefficiency⁹ nowadays. One prompt is austerity. Another is technology, which is changing not only how public services are delivered—think of “massively open online courses” in education—but also the way they can be measured. Social networks enable users to grumble¹⁰ about hospital waiting-times and mathematics results. Perhaps the biggest pressure is the passing of time: private-sector workers are incredulous as to why civil servants should escape the creative destruction that has changed other offices around the world.

　　长期以来，大项目出差错时纳税人会因而感到十分愤怒。柏林新机场建设已有三年逾期，并且预计耗资60亿欧元（81亿人民币），三倍于原来的预算。但在现今，选民和政客尤其无法忍受公务员服务效率低下。其中一个提示便是紧缩政策。另一个则是技术，这不仅正在改变公共服务的提供方式—思考“大规模开放式在线课程”的教育—但同时也是在思考他们可以被评估的方式。社交网络让用户有机会抱怨医院候诊室漫长的等待时间和自己的数学成绩。或许最大的压力是时间的流逝：私营部门的工作人员对于为何公务员要逃避已经改变了全球政府各部的创造性破坏表示质疑。

　　The reform of the public sector is a huge project, but people are at the centre of it. Government is a service industry, and there is a basic talent problem. A few civil services—Singapore's is the obvious example—compete with the private sector for the best graduates. But elsewhere even elite¹¹ departments, such as the US Treasury¹² and Britain's Foreign Office, struggle (or lose high-flyers quickly). The mandarins and their political masters need to change tack¹³.

　　公共部门的改革是一项庞大的工程，需要以人民为中心。政府是一个服务行业，并且存在一个基本的人才问题。一些民事部门—如新加坡的民事部门就是一个明显的例子—他们能够与私营部门竞争优秀人才。但在其他地方，即使是精英部门，如美国财政部和英国外交部，也同样存在斗争（或很快失去极高报负者）。政府官员和他们的政治领导者需要改变策略。

　　Too many civil servants, especially in continental¹⁴ Europe, swirl¹⁵ around a bureaucratic¹⁶ Gormenghast but rarely leave it. Nearly four-fifths of German senior public servants have been in public administration for more than two decades. The French state under Franois Hollande is governed by a caste of unsackable functionaries¹⁷, resistant¹⁸ to reform. One reason many officials become stuck is their generous pension deals: making pensions portable should be a priority. But career structures also must adapt.

　　太多的公务员，尤其是在欧洲大陆的公务员，他们漩涡在具有官僚政治的古老王国歌门鬼城身旁，但很少会选择离开它。近五分之四的德国高级公务员已经在公共管理中工作超过二十年。整个法国处于奥朗德状态，由固若金汤的社会团体所管辖，他们抵制改革。其中一个原因是，很多官员被慷慨的养老金交易卡住：使得养老金可携带成为一个必须考虑的优先事项。但是，职业结构也必须作出适当改变。

　　Most civil services still tend to be gerontocracies, where age and seniority are synonymous. New Zealand has dismantled¹⁹ the system of rigid²⁰ hierarchies²¹ and pay-grades that spawned²² the likes of the phlegmatic²³ Sir Humphrey in the BBC comedy “Yes Minister”. Instead, it appoints departmental chief executives in its ministries²⁴, who sign contracts to meet specific targets and can be dismissed if they fail. Singapore's civil servants are frequently sent out to private-sector jobs. Britain has appointed a senior figure from the oil business to run the agency that deals with large-scale state projects. The idea is that private-sector experience in areas such as contract management and negotiation²⁵ can help avoid disasters like Berlin's airport.

　　大部分公务员还是倾向于老人统治，这一词是年龄和资历的同义词。新西兰已经剔除了坚硬的等级和付费等级制度，这两种等级产生了类似于冷漠的汉弗莱爵士在BBC喜剧中的台词中“是，首相”这种制度方面的喜好。相反，它任命在其各部委部门的行政首长，负责签订契约，以达到特定的目标，并在他们失败时可以予以取消。新加坡的公务员被频繁地派遣到私营部门就业。英国已任命来自石油行业的资深人物来运行国家大型项目所涉及的机构。我们的想法是，在诸如合同管理和谈判领域私营部门的经验，可以帮助避免像柏林机场所发生的灾难。

　　All this appeals to right-wing politicians. But the corollary of better performance is higher pay. The British government's chief operating officer announced this week that he is leaving for a lucrative²⁶ commercial job. Singapore, which runs a far leaner government than America, pays its best people 2m a year. No Republican congressman²⁷ would tolerate that, which is foolish. The cost of higher salaries is offset²⁸ by saving money on costly²⁹ consultants³⁰ to mop up failing projects.

　　这一切都吸引了右翼政客。但更好成绩的必然结果是更高的薪水。英国政府的首席营运官在这个星期宣布，他将要胜任一份利润丰厚的商务工作。新加坡，其运行比美国更为精简的政府，付给其最佳胜任者200万美元一年的薪酬。没有共和党议员能够容忍这一点，他们认为这是愚蠢的想法。更高的工资成本是由节约资金成本聘请高昂费用的顾问以扫荡失败的项目而抵消的。

　　There is one area where less change would be useful. To plan careers, you need a long-term strategy—and democracy throws up change every election. In Britain health-care officials talk about successive “re-disorganisations”. One reason for authoritarian³¹ Singapore's success is that its voters have miraculously³² always chosen the party founded by Lee Kuan Yew³³ since he took control in 1959. Voters elsewhere are less obliging. New Zealand has tried to counter this by boosting the powers of a state-services commissioner³⁴, whose duties include one of lasting³⁵ “stewardship”. That could be a useful model for elsewhere—especially America, where too many senior positions are filled by political appointees (who then take months to get confirmed by Congress). Mandarinates have their faults, but somebody needs to keep Leviathan working.

　　在有的地方发生更少的变化是有用的。要规划职业生涯，你需要一个长期的战略—民主党在每一次选举中都抛出改变的承诺。在英国，其卫生保健官员谈相继出现的计划混乱。独裁新加坡的成功原因之一是在于它的选民已经奇迹般地始终选择由李光耀在1959年掌权开始创办的一党。其他地方的投票人则没有表现如此殷勤。新西兰一直试图通过提高一个国家的服务专员的权力而抵制这种情况，这些服务专员的职责包括其中之一的持久的“管家”权力。这可能是在其他地方是十分有用的模式—尤其对于美国，在那里太多的高级职位由政治性任命的官员填补了有益的模式（他们需要数月才能通过国会得到证实）。官职有其缺点，但需要有人来维持庞大体系的运作。

　　1.need to 需要

　　例句:Do not wait for good things to happen to you. You need to walk towards happiness.

　　不要等待好事降临，你要向幸福进发。

　　2.tend to 倾向于；趋向

　　例句:We tend to meet up for lunch once a week.

　　我们往往每周共进一次午餐。

　　3.compete with 竞赛；与竞争

　　例句:Schools should not compete with each other or attempt to poach pupils.

　　学校之间不应该相互竞争，也不应该企图挖走彼此的学生。

　　4.such as 例如；诸如

　　例句:Issues such as these were not really his concern.

　　他其实并不关心诸如此类的问题。

1 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

2 echelons   

n.（机构中的）等级，阶层( echelon的名词复数 )；（军舰、士兵、飞机等的）梯形编队

参考例句：

• Officers were drawn largely from the top echelons of society. 这些官员大都来自社会上层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Except in the higher echelons, extensive classification has no place in the classification of vegetation. 除高阶类级之外，外延分类在植物分类中还是没有地位的。 来自辞典例句

3 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

6 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

7 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

8 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

9 inefficiency   

n.无效率，无能；无效率事例

参考例句：

• Conflict between management and workers makes for inefficiency in the workplace. 资方与工人之间的冲突使得工厂生产效率很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This type of inefficiency arises because workers and management are ill-equipped. 出现此种低效率是因为工人与管理层都能力不足。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

11 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

14 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

15 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

16 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

17 functionaries   

n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Indian transmitters were court functionaries, not missionaries. 印度文化的传递者都是朝廷的官员而不是传教士。 来自辞典例句
• All government institutions functionaries must implement state laws, decrees and policies. 所有政府机关极其工作人员都必须认真执行国家的法律，法规和政策。 来自互联网

18 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

19 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

20 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

21 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

22 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

23 phlegmatic   

adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的

参考例句：

• Commuting in the rush-hour requires a phlegmatic temperament.在上下班交通高峰期间乘坐通勤车要有安之若素的心境。
• The british character is often said to be phlegmatic.英国人的性格常说成是冷漠的。

24 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

25 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

26 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

27 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

28 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

29 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

30 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

31 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

32 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

33 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

34 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

35 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。