是，大臣第三季

最近迷上了英剧《Yes，Minister》。

英国讽刺幽默，主要情节围绕 由于所属党派获得大选胜利，行政部长Jim Hacker和行政部常务秘书Humphery的故事展开。

行政部长，和外交部长，国防部部长同级，但是低于首相。属于政务类公务员，俗称政客。

行政部常务秘书,permenant secretary，属于业务类公务员，也就是我们众所周知的“公务员”。

政务类公务员实行任期制，由民选产生或由政府首脑任命，负责政党政策在政府工作中的贯彻执行。

业务类公务员实行常任制，多数通过考试录用，主要负责执行政府的日常业务。两者不得相互转任。

所以，本剧所有的笑点也诞生于此。

行政部常务秘书Humphery，是考试产生的，不烦原则性错误，基本等于终身制，可以服务到退休，服务过无数个部长。

行政部长Jim Hacker，是大选产生，剧中，平均任期11个月。。

不理解这个背景，理解剧中笑料还真不容易理解。

部长Jim Hacker要进行改革，裁剪臃肿的公务员系统，缩减政府成本。当然，这个目的不是他多高尚，而是，他可以获得很好的公众效应，继而有利于本党派大选。

常务秘书Humphery，作为高级公务员，保护的是公务员群体的利益。于是，各种暗中阻挠，拖延他的上级的改革。。

这个制衡，确实很降低政府运行效率，但是，保证了政府公务员系统的稳定，不随政党轮替而轮替。

这要求以常务秘书Humphery为代表的业务类公务员，必须保持政治中立。西方国家既要坚持“政党轮流执政”，又要避免“政党分赃”的腐败现象，因而特别强调业务类公务员得保持政治中立：必须忠于政府，不得带有党派倾向和其他政治倾向，不得参与党派活动，同时其管理也不受政党干预。

这样的制度，确实是我以前不知道的。。我们大陆的公务员考试应该也是借鉴这个制度。当然，我们只是借鉴了那么一点。。我们的政党和政府还是交织在一起的。

好，本文的目的只是普及一下知识，随便推销一下英剧《Yes，Minister》。

当然，想要黑这种体制也是轻而易举的，整个《Yes，Minister》都是对英国政治体制的各种嘲讽。

不得不承认，政党政治，制度设计，的确是西方的对人类文明的巨大贡献。

比如，本文关注的现代公务员制度就是最早起源于英国，至今也才不过150年的历史。是政党制度的直接产物：政党轮流执政的结果。

政党轮流执政的缺点就是造成政府所有工作人员“与政党共进退”，使政府工作经常处于一种不稳定的状态。

在这样的背景下，英国率先建立起一支独立于党派之争的稳定的业务类公务员队伍。在我看来，是一项必要的制度修补。

制度设计没有一开始就是完美的。西方在制度设计上的自我修复功能，的确值得我们的执政党学习。

Three articles of Civil Service: it takes longer to do things quickly; it is more expensive to do them cheaply; it is more democratic to do them in secret



Civil servants are grown like oak trees, not mustard and cress.



A: tell him the unions won't wear it.
B: but they like it!
A: that's beside the point.



A: well, if I might suggest...that we be realistic about this.
B: by realistic, you mean drop the whole scheme?
A: oh, dear me, no! but perhaps, a pause to re-group, allow us to reassess the situation and discuss alternative strategies? a space of time for mature reflection and deliberation?
B: ...yes you mean drop the whole scheme.



A: you are not saying that government the Britain is important?
B: no! it is very important! it's just that I haven't met anyone who's doing it!



A: in the past all local government reforms rebound on us. whenever anybody finds a way of saving money or cutting staff in local government, you find it works for Whitehall just as well!
B: yes, but local government is extravagant, overstaffed, incompetent, whereas we...Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
A：╮(￣▽￣")╭



A: if he does need something to keep him busy, you know what to do? get him to look into civil defense.
B: Civil defense? you mean fallout shelters?o(*≧▽≦)ツ
A: yes, government long ago decided that civil defense was not a serious issue.
B: oh, merely a desperate one!o(*≧▽≦)ツ
A: and it is best left to those whose incompetence can be relied upon.
B: local authorities!o(*≧▽≦)ツ



A: people of local government are either self-centered busy bodies on an ego trip and the other half do it for what they can get out of it.
B: perhaps they ought to be in the House of Commons.



A: where did you get the idea for this dangerous nonsense?!!!
B: from someone...in the department.
A: minister! I have warned you before about the danger of speaking to people in the department! I implore you to stay out of the minefield of local government. it is a political graveyard.
C: excuse me, sir Humphrey, but you cannot have a graveyard in a minefield, because all the corpses would....powwwwww!



A: if local authorities don't send us statistics that we asked for, then the government figures will be a nonsense.
B: why?
A: they'll be incomplete!
B: but government figures are a nonsense anyway.
C: I think A wants to ensure they are complete nonsense.



If the minister is restless, he can feed the ducks in St Jame's Park!



Obviously I'm not a trained lawyer or I wouldn't have been in charge of the Legal Unit!!



Minister: Non-event?
Humphrey: Oh, a brilliant triumph for you of course, minister.
Minister: hmmm.
Humphrey: which is why it's a futile non-event for the press.




A: it's perfectly all right, as long as nobody knows.
B: shouldn't we tell minister?
A: certainly not!
B: but if everybody knows!
A: everybody else. we do not let a minister know what everybody else knows.



A: I can't believe it! are you saying that winning at corruption is government policy?
B: no, no! minister! It could never be government policy! that is unthinkable! ......only government practice...╮(￣▽￣")╭



A: Everything wrong is not having an integrated policy.
B: But we did have a policy before.
A: Did we?
B: Yes, it was our policy not to have a policy.



The ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top!

<图片1>
——Backbench (backbenchers)后座议员——
Backbenchers are MPs or members of the House of Lords that are neither government ministers nor opposition Shadow spokespeople. They are so called because, in the Chamber, they sit in the rows of benches behind their parties' spokespeople who are known as frontbenchers.
<图片2>
Traditionally, backbenchers were called 'private members'; when a bill is introduced by a backbencher it is still described as a Private Member's Bill.

How effective are Backbenchers in the House of Commons?

While backbenchers are having more of an influence in recent years, they are rarely effective at forming a resistance to the power of the executive, and thus they are really limited in their effectiveness in shaping world events.

From 2010 to March 2015, the government has only been defeated 7 times in the Commons. However the few defeats are often significant- for example the 2013 Syrian civil war motion was defeated by 30 Tory rebel MPS and this in turn stopped the US going to war- seriously affecting global geopolitics in the Middle East.

——By-elections 补选——
A UK Parliamentary by-election takes place when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant between general elections. 一种非常规选举，只在议会内有遗缺时进行，以补回空缺议席的余下任期。选新议员期间，其选区事务由相邻选区同一党派的议员代理。（有遗缺原因：有议员辞职/破产/患精神疾病/严重刑事犯罪/死亡）

'Moving the Writ'
Traditionally the Chief Whip of the political party whose MP held the vacant seat will begin the procedure for a by-election. This is known as 'moving the Writ' and takes the form of a motion in the House of Commons.
<图片3>
——marginal constituency 边缘选区——

也叫marginal seat/swing seat: a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election. 各党(或者竞争的主要两党)得票很接近的选区，因此竞争激烈，竞选活动主要开展在这里。美国相对应的概念是摇摆州（Swing state，也称游离州、战场州或紫州）。非摇摆州也称安全州(safe state)，因为某候选人已有足够支持，可以安全赢得该州选票。

Targeting: the concentration of money and manpower in areas where they will make the most difference. 目标竞选：把资金和人力集中在最可能有所作为的地区。

在英国，英格兰中部（Midlands）的边缘选区往往是竞选活动关注的焦点，而不是萨里（保守党选区）或英格兰东北部（工党选区）。05年大选时，自民党把目光瞄准保守党的边缘选区，但这种“斩首策略”（"decapitation" strategy）并未奏效。

在美国大选中，选举团（Electoral College）实行“胜者全得”制（the winner-takes-all System），即把本州的选举人票全部给予在该州获得相对多数普选票的总统候选人，因此竞选资源也多集中于摇摆州。

Pork barreling：The creation of policy that will benefit a particular seat, at the expense of other taxpayers. 政治分肥大多采取直接对某地区或某企业拨款的方法，是争取边缘选区的策略之一。pork barrel一词来源于美国，是攻击竞选对手用的贬义词，在英国叫sweetener, 或election sweetener, tax sweetener. Yes, Minister里有提到过。

资料来源：
Parliament glossary-Backbench (backbenchers)
How effective are Backbenchers in the House of Commons
补选-维基百科
Parliament glossary-By-elections
上议院和下议院
摇摆州-维基百科
政治分肥-维基百科
Marginal seat-wiki