(单词翻译:单击)
Hey! I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics
嗨，我是克雷格，这是《政府和政治速成课》。
and today, I'm gonna cut through the red tape with common sense reforms to get our government back on track.
今天，我要通过一些常识性的改革，来打破繁文缛节，使我们的政府重回正轨。
Actually no we're not gonna do any of those things although if you pay attention to American politics you may have heard that bureaucracies are a problem.
事实上，我们不会做这些事情，如果你关注美国政治，你可能听说过官僚机构是个问题。
And that they're strangling American innovation.
他们正在扼杀美国的创新。
And that they must be dealt with, and soon.
这些问题必须尽快得到解决。
Part of the reason you may have heard this is that Americans just seem to hate bureaucracies
你可能听说过，美国人似乎就是因为我刚才提到的原因而讨厌官僚机构，
for reasons I've mentioned and probably one that I haven't -- federal bureaucracies are funded by taxes,
或许还有一个原因我没有提到——联邦官僚机构是由税收资助的，
and the only thing Americans hate more than bureaucracies is taxes!
美国人唯一比官僚机构更讨厌的就是税收!
Except for maybe public transportation and eating healthy food.
除了公共交通和吃健康食品。
Okay there's a lot of other things that Americans hate but taxes, hoo boy!
好吧，美国人还有很多讨厌的东西，除了税收，哇!
They're definitely near the top of the list.
他们肯定在名单的前列。
So today we're gonna look at the ways bureaucracies can be controlled
今天我们来看看官僚机构是如何被控制的
and we'll start with two broad categories –
我们将从两大类开始:
those controls that seek to limit the discretion of bureaucrats,
一类是试图限制官僚自由裁量权的管制，
and those that seek to shrink the size and number of bureaucracies.
另一类是试图缩小官僚机构的规模和数量的管制。
The first type, limiting the activities of bureaucracies without actually getting rid of them, is easier and therefore more common.
第一种是限制官僚机构的活动，但又不真正摆脱它们，这种做法比较容易，因此也比较普遍。
So congress can attempt to control the behavior of bureaucracies in two ways:
因此，国会可以尝试通过两种方式来控制官僚机构的行为:
they can institute before-the-fact controls or, wait for it, after-the-fact controls!
一种是实行事前控制，另一种是实行事后控制。
Before-the-fact controls are attempts to limit bureaucrats discretion through the way that the bureaucracy itself is set up.
事前控制是通过官僚机构本身的设置方式来限制官僚的自由裁量权。
I limit the discretion of eagles by doing this!
我这样做限制了老鹰的自由裁量权!
The best way to do this is through careful drafting of the legislation that creates bureaucracy itself.
要做到这一点，最好的办法是认真起草产生官僚主义的法律。
If for example congress didn't want NASA to search for extraterrestrial life, they could have written it into the law establishing NASA in the first place.
例如，如果国会不希望NASA搜寻外星生命，他们本来可以把它写进建立NASA的法律中。
A more realistic example is that congress frequently forbids agencies from funding or even discussing abortions or abortion counselling.
一个更现实的例子是，国会经常禁止机构提供资金，甚至禁止讨论堕胎或堕胎咨询。
This type of bureaucratic control is called procedural.
这种官僚控制被称为程序控制。
One of the main procedural controls on bureaucracies are reporting requirements,
对官僚机构的主要程序控制之一是报告要求，
which are forms that agencies have to send back to other oversight agencies detailing what the original agencies actually did.
报告要求是各机构必须向其他监督机构提交的表格，详细说明原来的机构实际上做了什么。
This is where a stereotype of the Kafka-esque bureaucracy comes from, other than you know, Kafka.
这就是卡夫卡式官僚体制的刻板印象的来源，而不是你们所知道的卡夫卡。
Another before-the-fact control that congress can exercise is in the appointment of agency heads, although the senate can only veto them, not actually appoint them.
国会可以行使的另一项事前控制是任命机构负责人，尽管参议院只能否决他们，而不能真正任命他们。
Of course, the executive branch will usually take congress' preferences into account in nominating agency heads, so this is also a sort of control.
当然，行政部门在提名机构负责人时通常会考虑国会的偏好，所以这也是一种控制。
Influencing the appointment process however is a weak control
然而，对任命过程的影响是一种薄弱的控制，
because once appointed and confirmed, congress does not have the power to remove the agency heads or threaten their job security much, although congress can make an agency's head ache through after-the-fact controls.
因为一旦任命并得到确认，国会就没有权力撤换机构负责人或对他们的工作安全构成很大威胁，尽管国会可以通过事后控制让机构头疼。
See what I did there Stan?
看到我做了什么吗，斯坦?
After-the-fact controls are often just called oversight but they extend a bit beyond this.
事后控制通常被称为监督，但它们的范围比这要大一些。
Congress can exercise very public oversight by holding hearings.
国会可以通过举行听证会来行使非常公开的监督。
If there's some blockbuster allegations people might pay attention, but the more hearings congress decides to hold, the less attention the public will pay.
如果出现一些轰动一时的指控，人们可能会予以关注，但国会决定举行的听证会越多，公众的关注就会越少。
Probably the best known congressional hearings involve Nixon's impeachment which was a very special case
也许最著名的国会听证会包括尼克松的弹劾案，这是一个非常特殊的案件，
and the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, when senator McCarthy held hearings to determine if the army was full of communists.
以及1954年的军队麦卡锡听证会，当时参议员麦卡锡举行听证会，以确定军队中是否满是共产党人。
Spoiler, it wasn't.
不是剧透。
Congress has it's own watchdog organization that checks on how bureaucracies are spending their money, the general accounting office.
国会有自己的监督机构，对官僚机构的开支情况进行监督。
Congress can also institute investigations which are less public than hearings, and result in a report.
国会还可以发起调查，但调查的公开程度不如听证会，并最终形成一份报告。
A report.
报告。
We all hate doing reports, right?
我们都讨厌做报告，对吧?
The Warren Commission report on JFK's assassination, the 9/11 report and the senate report on CIA torture are examples of this.
沃伦委员会关于肯尼迪遇刺的报告、9/11报告和参议院关于中情局酷刑的报告就是这样的例子。
The best way to control what a bureaucracy is able to do is through the appropriations process.
控制官僚机构能力的最好办法是通过拨款程序。
Congress has to set aside operating funds for most agencies and one of the best ways to get an agency to do less is by giving them less money to do things, or at least threatening to do so.
国会必须为大多数机构留出运营资金，而让机构少做事的最好办法之一就是减少给它们做事的资金，或者至少威胁要这么做。
Of course the absolute best way to get an agency to do less of whatever it does is by limiting its growth, or in some cases getting rid of it altogether.
当然，让一个机构少做任何事情的绝对最佳方式是限制它的增长，或者在某些情况下完全摆脱它。
Limiting its growth is sometimes called taming the bureaucracy but that makes it sound like some kind of wild animal and I don't know about you but wild animals are not the first thing that comes to mind when I think about IRS agents.
限制它的增长有时被称为驯服官僚机构，但这听起来像是某种野生动物，我不知道你们怎么想，但野生动物并不是我想到国税局特工时首先想到的。
Well, I mean, being attacked by a bear and being audited are similar, but let's go to the Thought Bubble.
嗯，我的意思是，被熊攻击和被审计是相似的，但是让我们来看看思想泡泡。
Of all the ways to limit the growth of bureaucracies, the absolute best is to get rid of the agencies completely.
在所有限制官僚机构增长的方法中，绝对最好的是彻底摆脱官僚机构。
This is called termination and despite the calls of politicians to get rid of executive departments, it almost never happens.
这就是所谓的终止，尽管政客们呼吁撤销行政部门，但这种情况几乎从未发生过。
This is for two reasons.
这有两个原因。
One is that bureaucracies create constituencies for themselves and they can often lobby persuasively for the continuation of the agency.
一个是官僚机构为自己创造选民，它们经常能够有说服力地游说，要求继续保留该机构。
More to the point, lots of agencies are useful and getting rid of them would mean that some important functions might not get done.
更重要的是，许多机构是有用的，摆脱它们意味着一些重要的职能可能无法完成。
Like who would oversee America's failing schools without the Department of Education.
比如，如果没有教育部，谁来监管美国失败的学校?
More common than termination is deregulation which is when congress limits the number of regulations that an agency is allowed to enforce.
比终止更常见的是解除管制，即国会限制一个机构可以执行的规章的数量。
Often the thought behind this is that market forces will step in and keep whatever the agency had been regulating under control.
这背后的想法通常是，市场力量会介入，并将该机构一直以来的监管置于控制之下。
But often it doesn't work out as we, or congress, might expect.
但通常情况下，它并不像我们或国会所期望的那样奏效。
In the 1970s, congress deregulated the airline industry, and one result has been much cheaper airfares although it doesn't seem like it.
在20世纪70年代，国会解除了对航空业的管制，结果之一就是机票便宜了很多，尽管看起来似乎不是这样。
Another result has been fewer airlines and greatly improves service.
另一个结果是航空公司数量减少，服务质量大大提高。
We can all agree that no one has ever had any bad service ever on an airline.
另一个结果是航空公司数量减少，服务质量大大提高。
The point of deregulation is that it's supposed to lower costs, but this isn't always the case especially when you figure in externalities which are the social costs of an activity that are not paid for by the industry.
放松管制的意义在于降低成本，但这并不总是这样，特别是当你考虑到外部性的时候，外部性是指一项活动的社会成本，而不是由行业支付的。
The best example of an externality is pollution but we'll talk more about that later.
外部性的最佳例子是污染，但我们稍后将对此进行更多讨论。
Another way of shrinking bureaucracies that has become popular since Nixon and new federalism is devolution.
另一种缩减官僚机构的方式是权力下放，自尼克松和新联邦制以来，这种方式变得流行起来。
Devolution is when congress shifts, or devolves, the task, or burden, of regulation from a federal agency to state and local municipalities.
权力下放是指国会将监管的任务或负担从联邦机构转移到州和地方政府。
Devolution is a bit of a bait-and-switch because while it may shrink the federal bureaucracy, the total level of bureaucratic function remains the same.
权力下放有点像诱饵和开关，因为它可能会缩小联邦官僚机构，但官僚职能的总体水平保持不变。
Unless congress cuts funding along with the devolution, creating an unfunded mandate.
除非国会在权力下放的同时削减拨款，否则就会产生一种无资金支持的授权。
Thanks Thought Bubble!
谢谢思想泡泡!
So, congress has attempted to scale back bureaucracy by privatization.
因此，国会试图通过私有化来缩减官僚机构。
This means turning over bureaucratic functions to private entities, usually corporations.
这意味着将官僚职能移交给私人实体，通常是公司。
What happened to my jacket?
我的夹克怎么了?
President George W. Bush proposed doing this to social security, essentially allowing individuals to invest their retirement funds with private companies.
美国总统乔治•w•布什提议对社会保障采取这种做法，基本上允许个人将自己的退休基金投资于私营企业。
But this proposal went nowhere, mainly because it seemed risky and looked like a giveaway to banks, which may be even less popular than bureaucracies or congress.
但这一提议毫无进展，主要是因为它似乎存在风险，而且看起来像是对银行的赠品，而银行可能比官僚机构或国会更不受欢迎。
Another example has been handing out some of the jobs that had previously been done by the army to private military contractors.
另一个例子是将一些以前由军队完成的工作交给私人军事承包商。
Privatization looks great politically to some and it gives the appearance of shrinking the size of the bureaucracy because employees are off the government's books.
在一些人看来，私有化在政治上是伟大的，而且由于雇员不在政府的账簿上，它似乎缩小了官僚机构的规模。
But they still have to be paid, so whether privatization actually works is debatable.
但是他们仍然需要支付，所以私有化是否真的有效是有争议的。
In the long term it may be less costly because many federal employees receive deferred compensation in the form of pensions,
从长远来看可能是低成本的,因为许多联邦雇员获得递延补偿形式的养老金,
but in the short run in can cost a lot more for a private company to drive a truck in a war zone than for an army to do it.
但在短期内可以花费更多的私人公司驾驶一辆卡车在战区比一支军队。
So if you wanna limit the power of bureaucracies, those are some of the ways to do it.
所以如果你想限制官僚机构的权力，这是一些方法。
But before you get too excited about cutting government down to size, there are a few things to remember.
但在你对缩减政府规模感到兴奋之前，有几件事需要记住。
First, bureaucracies are huge and they do a ton of things.
首先，官僚机构庞大，他们做很多事情。
Bureaucracies have grown since the new deal and they don't show much sign of slowing down.
自新政以来，官僚机构不断壮大，而且没有多少放缓的迹象。
I blame the eagle.
我怪鹰。
Stop it!
停下吧！
Even under Republican presidents like George W. Bush, bureaucracies have grown and along with them, government spending.
即便是在乔治•w•布什这样的共和党总统任内，官僚机构也在增加，政府支出也在增加。
In fact President Bush even added a cabinet agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
事实上，布什总统甚至增加了一个内阁机构，国土安全部。
Second, once created, bureaucracies create political constituencies by making themselves necessary to people.
第二，官僚机构一旦产生，就通过使自己成为人民所需要的而产生政治选区。
Ugh, people.
呃,人。
So annoying.
那么烦人。
It's so much easier without people!
没有人会更容易!
The idea of getting rid of social security just to limit social security is scary to a lot of people who rely on social security.
对于很多依赖社会保障的人来说，仅仅为了限制社会保障而废除社会保障的想法是可怕的。
I said social security a lot.
我经常说社保。
The thing to remember here is that no matter what we may think of them, bureaucracies are political entities and subject to political pressure despite efforts to keep them out of politics.
在这里需要记住的是，无论我们如何看待官僚机构，它们都是政治实体，尽管我们努力使它们置身于政治之外，它们仍然受到政治压力。
But in case you haven't noticed, you can't really separate politics and government.
但如果你没有注意到，政治和政府是分不开的。
But we'll talk about politics in another episode.
但是我们将在另一集谈论政治。
Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time.
谢谢收看，下次再见。
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
政府与政治速成班是与PBS数字工作室联合制作的。
Support for Crash Course US Government comes from Voqal.
美国政府对速成课程的支持来自Voqal。
Voqal supports non-profits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持利用技术和媒体促进社会公平的非营利组织。
Learn more about their mission and initiatives at voqal.org.
更多关于他们的使命和倡议，请访问voqal.org。
Crash Course was made with the help of these private contractors.
速成班是在这些私人承包商的帮助下开办的。
Thanks for watching.
感谢收看。
