David Cameron 談下一代的政府

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講者：David Cameron
2010年2月演講，2010年2月在TED上線
MyOOPS開放式課程
翻譯：劉契良
編輯： 洪曉慧
簡繁轉換：陳盈
後制：劉契良
字幕影片後制：謝旻均
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David Cameron 談下一代的政府　
有人曾表示：「政治是醜旦的舞台」，如此看來，我真的已經站上舞台了，另一方面卻也不得不以身為政治家而感到很光榮，因為可以站在TED 舞台上演講，尤其是在英國，我國的政治聲名因為津貼醜聞而一落千丈，最近，甚至有科學家開始思考要以政治家來取代老鼠做實驗，有人問說：「為何」？他們回說：「因為政治家多如牛毛，沒有人真正在乎他們怎麼了，另外，有些事老鼠根本做不出來」（笑聲）。
我知道您們都喜愛數據，所以我的簡報內含大量的數據，請謹記一件大事，無論是英國或是美國政治，我們的國庫都一樣所剩無幾，我們要面對巨大的預算赤字，這是我的全球公共負債鐘，現時約為 32 兆，並持續累計中，這導出一個非常簡單的認知，關於存在現時政治中的一個緊要問題，如圖示：我們如何在不多花錢的情況扭轉頹勢？因為並沒有太多的錢可用以改善公共服務或改善政府、或改善其他諸多事，但政治家們不斷提及，如此推論下來，若你認為錢是解答，你僅能透過花更多錢來衡量公共服務、醫療照護、教育及警政的成功與否，你僅能透過花更多錢來衡量進步，最後的結局將會很慘痛。
但如果考慮促進公眾福祉的其他因素，像是你的家庭關係、友誼、社群、價值觀，你會發現，實際上，現時政治是一個很刺激的舞台，我今晚想要呈現的簡單論點，十分直接了當的論點是，如果我們結合正確的政治哲學、政治思想及已成事實的驚人資訊革命，後者是在座各位都比我更瞭解的領域，我認為這將是實際改造政治的大好時機，同時改造政府、改造公共服務，並達致簡報上所提各點，也就是大幅提升我們社會的福祉，這就是今晚我要提呈的論點。
首先，我要講政治哲學，我必需加註的是保守黨並沒有所有的答案，當然沒有，但有兩點核心理念在驅動保守黨的哲思，而且和這整場論戰有關連，第一，我們相信如果你賦予人民，更多自我掌控生命的權力，更多的選擇，將他們放入駕駛座，你可以創造出更強壯、更優質的社會，且如果你將這點事實結合到大量資訊，這已充斥在我們現時的世界，我認為你可以完全如前所述，改造政治、改造政府、改造您的公共服務。第二條理念是，我們相信人性的本質，政治與政治家的成功僅發生在他們真正接納人民的本質，而非將人民放入他們建構出的框架，如果能將這非常簡單、保守的想法，伴隨人性本質，結合到所有行為經濟的發展中，有些是我們才剛聆聽過的，我們便能達致真正提昇福祉、喜樂及更優質社會的目標，而無需花費巨額預算。
為何我認為現在是提這項論點的好時機？這恐怕要從以下簡短、濃縮的歷史課講起，這段歷史包括三個年代，前官僚年代、官僚年代及我們現時所處的後官僚年代，簡單的思考邏輯是我們已從地方管轄的世界走過中央集權的世界，抵達現時由人民控管的世界，地方勢力、中央集權到現在的人民力量，這是 Knut 大帝，千年前的王者，臆想自己可以呼風喚雨，當然不行，大浪怎會鳥他，但他是千年前的皇帝，當時橫跨國土仍需費時耗日，能掌握的事不多，諸如警政、司法、教育、健康及福利都不受管轄，他能做的唯獨宣戰，這便是前官僚年代，一個所有事都歸地方管的年代，地方管轄在當時是必需，因為缺乏全國性的資訊可用，因為旅行仍十分受限，這便是前官僚年代。
下一章節的歷史課程始自英國工業革命，一時間，所有的運輸、旅行、資訊都化作可能，這促生了我所謂的官僚年代，希望簡報上的圖像順利變形。太好了，突然間，強大的中央集權政府誕生了，它能夠，曾經能夠，組織健康照護、教育、警政與司法，這是我所謂非地方勢力，而是中央集權的世界，它從地方上吸收了所有的勢力，中央就可以搞定一切，下一個年代有您們都非常熟悉的巨大資訊革命，我們僅需考慮一點事實，100 年前，傳送這 10 個字需要花 50 元，現在，我們已和長堤及其他地方連結在一起，甚至是更隱密的地方也幾乎不用花錢，即可收送大量的資訊，費用幾乎是零，我們所處的是後官僚年代，真實的人民力量已是可能，這對我們的政治，還有公共服務及我們的政府有何意義？
受限於時間，我無法提太多的範例，但讓我提幾個能改善生活的方式，這其實很顯而易見，因為，只要想一下我們如何改變了購物、旅行及做生意的方式，這都是已發生的事；資訊及網路革命早以各種不同的方式全面滲透到我們的社會中，但所有的方式都尚未觸及我們的政府，怎麼會這樣？我認為有三種途徑可以創造巨大的不同，透明度、更多選擇及問責制度可以賦予我們真正的人民力量，先講透明度，這是我喜愛的一個網站，Surrey 問責制度入口網站，往昔，僅有政府能握有資訊，僅有少數獲選的人可以嘗試取得那些資訊，質疑並進而挑戰，現時，僅需一個網站，美國一個州的每一項政府支出都可以被找到、分析及檢視，思考一下這重大改變所意味的是任何想參與政府合約競標的商家，都可以看到目前的支出情形，任何能讓服務更好，執行經費更低廉的商家，都能在此找到，我們的政府及政治才剛開始深入瞭解商界人士的作法，以資訊革命的方式。
所以，完全透明可以造就巨大的不同，在英國，如果我們贏得大選，我們會將所有超過 25,000 英磅的政府支出透明化並上線，讓任何人都可以自由搜尋，我們今天正式宣佈，每一份合約都將上線，讓每一個人都可以看到條款及條件內容，創造金錢的最大價值，同時，也大幅提昇人民福祉，選擇。現在大家都在網上購物、網上比價，任何事都在網上進行，但這場革命尚未觸及諸如教育、健康照護或警政等公共服務，但您們將會看到重大的改變，我們應該要進行改變，透過我國的資訊革命，以可搜尋的健康網站，讓你可以看到手術適當地進行、醫生的診斷記錄及醫院的清潔度，那間醫院的感染管控最佳，所有曾經是鎖在衛生署的資訊，現在我們都可以看得到。
第三項重大改革是問責制度，這可是一項重大的改變，這是一張犯案地圖，芝加哥的犯案地圖，所以，一改警察才有犯案地圖資訊，我們還必需雇人在政府中，監督警察盡責與否的舊局，突然間，我們得到讓人民力量得到發揮的大好機會，身為公民的我們可以看到犯案類型，地點、時間及罪犯，同時我們還能追究警察的責任，如圖所示，看起來有點像警帽，但其實是施暴的地點，那些藍色的標記，你可以看到犯案的地點，同時有機會要警察部門負責，透過這三種途徑：透明、問責制度與選擇，重大的不同將成可能。
另一個我認為應實行的理念是瞭解人民，瞭解到那些和人性本質並存的事物，如此才能事半功倍，我們面臨的一大變革，就是瞭解，為何人民會做出特定的行為，這也是一大契機，讓我們可將知識及資訊做更大的發揮，我們和這些人合作，我們接納他們的一些建議，並試圖要他們解釋他們的想法，有一個超級簡單的例子，我個人非常喜歡，我們要人民節能，為何？因為那可降低付不起燃料及帳單的窘境，同時降低碳排放量，作法為何？多年來，政府的呼籲文宣是要我們在出門前將電燈關掉，甚至有一名部長級官員曾告訴我們摸黑刷牙，那好像沒有太長久的效應，再來看看這個作法。
這是簡單的行為經濟，要讓人民節能的最佳作法是讓他們看到自己的花費，對比於鄰居的花費，再對比於力行節能鄰居的花費，這類的行為經濟可以轉化人民的行為，卻是政府用盡威脅利誘及宣傳都望塵莫及的方法，另一個例子是回收，眾所皆知，我們必需要回收更多，但要如何達到這個目標？美國已證明的方法是付錢要人民回收，利誘而非懲罰，你便能轉化他們的行為，這一切意味著什麼？過去 50 年，有兩場我最愛的美國人演講，顯然，第一個是已故總統甘迺迪，簡單但有力的構思，「勿提國家能為我做什麼，且問我能為國家做什麼」，無敵高尚的情操，但當他演講時，又當如何做以建構具更強力支撐的社會呢？你可以為國家作戰，你可以為國家捐軀，你可以效力於國家文職，但你缺乏資訊、知識及能力來協助建構比現時更優質的社會。
另一個我認為更漂亮的演講，也是我將引述一大段講詞，以總結我一開始所提，關於相信生命高於金錢及我們應嘗試，非只用金錢作為衡量工具的概念，那就是 Robert Kennedy 的漂亮描述，為何國民生產總值（GNP）意義不大，講詞：「GNP 並不代表我們後代的健康，也不代表他們所受教育的品質，或是他們遊玩的樂趣，更不代表我們詩歌的美好或是婚姻的強度，或公共辯論的智慧，GNP 無法衡量我們的機智或勇氣，我們的智慧或學習，更無法衡量我們對國家的忠貞與奉獻，它似乎衡量一切，但卻獨漏生命的價值」，這一樣是 40 年前展現出的高貴情操，也是 40 年前的美夢，但現在透過資訊科技的長足進展及行為經濟的全面改觀，還有我們所知如何提昇福祉的方法，如果這一切都結合在一起，賦予人民力量、善用資訊使其成真，用合於人性本質的觀點，同時瞭解到人民行為的含意，今日這個美夢將會比40 年前演講中的那個要容易達成些，感謝聆聽。
（掌聲）
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
About this talk
The leader of Britain's Conservative Party says we're entering a new era -- where governments themselves have less power (and less money) and people empowered by technology have more. Tapping into new ideas on behavioral economics, he explores how these trends could be turned into smarter policy.
About David Cameron

David Cameron is the leader of the UK's Conservative Party. Full bio and more links

Transcript

Someone once said that, "politics is," of course, "showbiz for ugly people." So, on that basis, I feel like I've really arrived. The other thing think to think of is what an honor it is, as a politician, to give a TED talk, particularly here in the U.K., where the reputation of politics, with the expenses scandal, has sunk so low.

There was even a story recently that scientists had thought about actually replacing rats in their experiments with politicians. And someone asked,"Why?" and they said, "Well, there's no shortage of politicians. No one really minds what happens to them. And, after all, there are some things that rats just won't do." (Laughter)

Now, I know you all love data, so I'm starting with a data-rich slide. This, I think, is the most important fact to bear in mind in British politics or American politics, and that is, we have run out of money. We have vast budget deficits. This is my global public debt clock, and, as you can see, it's 32 trillion and counting.

And I think what this leads to is a very simple recognition. That there's one question in politics at the moment above all other, and it's this one: How do we make things better without spending more money? Because there isn't going to be a lot of money to improve public services or to improve government, or to improve so many of the things that politicians talk about. So what follows from that is that if you think it's all about money, you can only measure success in public services in health care and education and policing by spending more money, you can only measure progress by spending money, you're going to have a pretty miserable time.

But if you think a whole lot of other things matter, that lead up to well-being, things like your family relationships, friendship, community, values, then, actually, this is an incredibly exciting time to be in politics. And the really simple argument I want to make tonight, the really straightforward argument is this, that, if we combine the right political philosophy, the right political thinking, with the incredible information revolution that has taken place, and that all of you know so much more about than I do, I think there's an incredible opportunity to actually remake politics, remake government, remake public services, and achieve what's up on that slide, which is a big increase in our well-being. That's the argument I want to make tonight.

So, starting with the political philosophy. Now I'm not saying for a minute that British Conservatives have all the answers. Of course, we don't. but there are two things at heart, that I think drive a conservative philosophy that are really relevant to this whole debate. The first is this, we believe that if you give people more power and control over their lives, if you give people more choice, if you put them in the driving seat, then, actually, you can create a stronger and better society. And if you marry this fact with the incredible abundance of information that we have in our world today, I think you can completely, as I've said, remake politics, remake government, remake your public services.

The second thing we believe, is we believe going with the grain of human nature. Politics and politicians will only succeed if they actually try and treat with people as they are, rather than as they would like them to be. Now, if you combine this very simple, very conservative, thought -- go with the grain of human nature -- with all the advances in behavioral economics, some of which we were just hearing about, again, I think we can achieve a real increase in well-being, in happiness, in a stronger society without necessarily having to spend a whole lot more money.

Now, why do I think now is the moment to make this argument? Well, I'm afraid you're going to suffer a short, condensed history lesson about what I would say are the three passages of history, the pre-bureaucratic age, the bureaucratic age, and what we now live in, which I think is a post-bureaucratic age. A simpler way of thinking of it is that we have gone from a world of local control, then we went to a world of central control, and now we're in a world of people control. Local power, central power, now, people power.

Now, here is King Knut, king a thousand years ago. Thought he could turn back the waves. Couldn't turn back the waves. Couldn't actually turn back very much, because if you were king a thousand years ago, while it still took hours and hours and weeks and weeks to traverse your own country, there wasn't much you were in charge of. You weren't in charge of policing, justice, education, health, welfare. You could just about go to war and that was about it. This was the pre-bureaucratic age, an age in which everything had to be local. You had to have local control because there was no nationally available information because travel was so restricted. So this was the pre-bureaucratic age.

Next part of the cod history lesson, the lovely picture of the British Industrial Revolution. Suddenly, all sorts of transport, travel, information were possible, and this gave birth to, what I like to call, the bureaucratic age. And hopefully this slide is going to morph beautifully. There we are. Suddenly, you have the big, strong, central state. It was able, but only it was able, to organize health care, education, policing, justice. And it was the world of, as I say, not local power, but now central power. It had sucked all that power up from the localities. It was able to do that itself.

The next great stage, which all of you are so familiar with, the massive information revolution. Just consider this one fact. 100 years ago, sending these 10 words cost 50 dollars. Right now, here we are linked up to Long Beach and everywhere else, and all these secret locations for a fraction of that cost, and we can send and receive huge quantities of information without it costing anything. So we're now living in a post-bureaucratic age, where genuine people power is possible.

Now, what does this mean for our politics, for our public services, for our government? Well I can't, in the time I've got, give huge numbers of examples, but let me just give a few of the ways life can change. And this is so obvious, in a way, because you think about how all of you have changed the way we shop, the way we travel, the way that business is done. That is already happened; the information and internet revolution has actually gone all the way through our societies in so many different ways, but it hasn't in every way, yet touched our government.

So, how could this happen? Well, I think there are three chief ways that it should make and enormous difference, in transparency, in greater choice, and in accountability, in giving us that genuine people power. If we take transparency, here is one of my favorite websites, the Surrey Accountability Portal. In the old days, only the government could hold the information, and only a few elected people could try and grab that information and question it and challenge it. Now here, on one website, one state in America, every single dollar spent by that government is searchable, is analyzable, is checkable.

Think of the huge change that means. Any business that wants to bid for a government contract can see what currently is being spent. Anyone thinking, I could do that service better, I could deliver it cheaper, it's all available there. We have only, in government and in politics, started to scratch the surface of what people are doing in the commercial world with the information revolution. So, complete transparency will make a huge difference. In this country, if we win the election, we are going to make all government spending over 25,000 pounds transparent and available online, searchable for anyone to see. We're going to make every contract, we're announcing this today, available on the internet, so anyone can see what the terms are, what the conditions are, deriving huge value for money, but also huge increases, I believe, in well-being as well.

Choice. Now you all shop online, compare online, do everything online, and yet this revolution has hardly touched the surface of public services like education, or health care, or policing, and you're going to see this change massively. We should be making this change with the information revolution in our country, with searchable health sites, so you can see what operations work out properly, what records doctors have, the cleanliness of hospitals, who does best at infection control, all of the information that would once be locked in the Department of Health, is now available for all of us to see.

And the third of these big changes, accountability. This, I think, is a huge change. It is a crime map. This is a crime map from Chicago. So, instead of having a situation where only the police have the information about which crimes are committed where, and we have to employ people in government to try and hold the police to account, suddenly, we've got this vast opportunity for people power, where we, as citizens, can see what crimes are being committed, where, when and by whom, and we can hold the police to account. And you can see that this, looks a bit like a chief's hat, but actually that's an assault, the one in blue. You can see what crime is committed where, and you have the opportunity to hold your police force to account. So those three ways, transparency, accountability, and choice, will make a huge difference.

Now I also said the other principle that I think we should work on is understanding of people, is recognizing that going with the grain of human nature you can achieve so much more. Now, we're got a huge revolution in understanding of why people behave in the way that they do, and a great opportunity to put that knowledge and information to greater use. We're working with some of these people. We're being advised by some of these people, as was said, to try and bring all the experience to book.

Let me just give you one example that I think is incredibly simple, and I love. We want to get people to be more energy efficient. Why? It cuts fuel poverty, it cuts their bills, and it cuts carbon emissions at the same time. How do you do it? Well, we've had government information campaigns over the years when they tell you to switch off the lights when you leave the home. We even had, one government minister once told us to brush our teeth in the dark. I don't think they lasted very long. Look at what this does. This is a simple piece of behavioral economics. The best way to get someone to cut their electricity bill is to show them their own spending, to show them what their neighbors are spending, and then show what an energy conscious neighbor is spending. That sort of behavioral economics can transform people's behavior in a way that all the bullying and all the information and all the badgering from a government cannot possibly achieve. Other examples are, recycling. We all know we need to recycle more. How do we make it happen? All the proof from America is, actually, if you pay people to recycle, if you give them a carrot rather than a stick, you can transform their behavior.

So what does all this add up to? Here are my two favorite U.S. speeches of the last 50 years. Obviously, here we have JFK with that incredibly simple and powerful formulation, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," an incredibly noble sentiment. But when he made that speech, what could you do to build the stronger back of society? You could fight for your country, you could die for your country, you could serve in your country's civil service, but you didn't really have the information and the knowledge and the ability to help build the stronger society in the way that you do now.

And I think, an even more wonderful speech, which I'm going to read a big chunk of, which sums up what I said at the beginning about believing there is more to life than money, and more that we should try and measure than money. and it is Robert Kennedy's beautiful description of why gross national product captures so little. It, "does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worth while."

Again, a sentiment that was so noble and beautifully put 40 years ago, and a beautiful dream 40 years ago, but now with the huge advances in information technology, with the massive changes in behavioral economics, with all that we know about how you would advance well-being, that if we combine those insites, of giving power to people, and using information to make that possible, and using the insight of going with the grain of human nature, while at the same time, understanding why people behave in the way they do, it is a dream more easy to realize today than it was made in that beautiful speech 40 years ago.
Thank you. (Applause)
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