ON MARCH 15th the former governor of Illinois,Rod Blagojevich, will start to serve a 14-yearsentence for corruption in a federal low-securityprison. In this part of America, he is treading awell-worn path. Over four decades, four governors have been convicted of corruption.

　　伊利諾斯州前州長羅德?布拉格耶維奇因在聯邦低安全級別監獄中工作腐敗，于3月15日開始為期14年的刑罰。在美國的這個地區，他走過了一條曲折的道路。在過去的四十年中，4個州長都因腐敗而被定罪。

　　A new report, by Dick Simpson and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, documentsthe extent to which the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago have been hotbeds ofcorruption. Chicago, they conclude, has the dubious distinction of being the federaldistrict with the most convictions since 1976.

　　在芝加哥大學迪克?辛普森和他的同事們一份新的報告中，他們描繪了作為滋生腐敗的溫床伊利諾斯州和芝加哥已經到了何種程度。他們宣稱，從1976年開始芝加哥就很可能是美聯邦中高犯罪率地區，而它也因此顯著區別與其他地區。

　　Since then, 1,828 elected officials, appointees, government employees and a few privateindividuals have been convicted of corruption in Illinois, and 84% of these were in itsNorthern Districta judicial zone which contains the entire Chicago metropolitan area.During this time around one-third of the citys aldermen have been convicted of corruption.No mayors have been convicted or indictednot even Bill Thompson, who was backed by AlCapone.

　　從那之后，1828名選舉官員、指派官員、政府雇員和一小部分私人個體都因在伊利諾斯州實施腐敗而被治罪。他們中的84%都來自于州北部地區這是一塊包含芝加哥所有繁華區域的司法區。如今整個城市已經有 1/3的商人都被定為腐敗罪。沒有一個市長因腐敗被定罪或起訴，甚至在阿爾?卡彭支持下的比爾?湯普森也不例外。

　　Although Chicago is the capital of corruption, the state of Illinois as a whole ranks only thirdin the countryafter the much more populous states of New York and California. But thereport documents a pattern of crime that has become synonymous with the Chicago orIllinois way of doing things. All the corrupt governors and 26 of the aldermen had tried toextract bribes from builders, developers, business owners and those seeking to do businesswith the city or the state. Those who paid bribes either assumed, or were told, thatpayment was necessary for zoning changes, building permits or any other governmentaction.

　　雖然芝加哥身為腐敗之都，但是伊利諾斯州在全國的腐敗排名位居第三紐約州和加利福尼亞州在這點上更為眾望所歸。不過報告中描述了一種犯罪方式，這種方式與芝加哥和伊利諾斯州行事方式有相似之處。所有行為腐敗的市長和市參議員都曾向建筑商、發展商、大商人以及意欲與城市或者州進行生意交易的人索取過賄賂。這些被索取賄賂的人認為，也有其他人告訴他們，那些作為賄賂的錢財都是為地區改變、建筑許可或是其他任何政府行為所必須的。

　　Mr Blagojevich, notoriously, sought money in exchange for an appointment to a seat in theSenate. Other convictions may have been less spectacular, but the pattern of pay-offs forpolitical favours has prevailed in these parts for 150 years.

　　布拉格耶維奇尋找錢財為了在議會中享有一席之地的事情已經臭名昭著。他的其他罪名沒有這么嚴重，但是通過金錢來交換政治這種方式已經在這個地區盛行了150年了。

　　A project under way by the State Integrity Investigation, due out on March 19th, notes thatsome changes have been made in the light of past scandals. Mr Simpson thinks the ultimatesolution lies in ending the culture of corruption, which would include prohibiting patronage, nepotism and the holding of twogovernment jobs at the same time.

　　國家正義調查局正進行一個于3月19號結束的項目，他們發現在過去的丑聞影響下，一些變化悄然興起。辛普森先生認為禁止任命職務、任人唯親以及同時就職于政府兩個職位，這才是斷絕腐敗問題的最終解決方案。

　　Corruption has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and sapped faith in government.Both the new governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, and the new mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel,have shown a willingness to reform. Many of Mr Emanuels early executive orders aredesigned to improve transparency and accountability. But Mr Simpson says too manyloopholes remain. The devil, as ever, is in the detail.

　　腐敗問題以納稅人數以百萬計的金錢作為代價，并且使得公眾喪失了對政府的信任。伊利諾斯州的新州長奎恩和芝加哥的新市長拉姆?伊曼紐爾都表示了改革的決心。伊曼紐爾先生早期的行政命令也意在提高政府行政的透明度和信任感。但是辛普森先生說這個體制還是有太多的漏洞，而最終的魔鬼，仍然是在細節上。

　　ON MARCH 15th the former governor of Illinois,Rod Blagojevich, will start to serve a 14-yearsentence for corruption in a federal low-securityprison. In this part of America, he is treading awell-worn path. Over four decades, four governors have been convicted of corruption.

　　伊利諾斯州前州長羅德?布拉格耶維奇因在聯邦低安全級別監獄中工作腐敗，于3月15日開始為期14年的刑罰。在美國的這個地區，他走過了一條曲折的道路。在過去的四十年中，4個州長都因腐敗而被定罪。

　　A new report, by Dick Simpson and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, documentsthe extent to which the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago have been hotbeds ofcorruption. Chicago, they conclude, has the dubious distinction of being the federaldistrict with the most convictions since 1976.

　　在芝加哥大學迪克?辛普森和他的同事們一份新的報告中，他們描繪了作為滋生腐敗的溫床伊利諾斯州和芝加哥已經到了何種程度。他們宣稱，從1976年開始芝加哥就很可能是美聯邦中高犯罪率地區，而它也因此顯著區別與其他地區。

　　Since then, 1,828 elected officials, appointees, government employees and a few privateindividuals have been convicted of corruption in Illinois, and 84% of these were in itsNorthern Districta judicial zone which contains the entire Chicago metropolitan area.During this time around one-third of the citys aldermen have been convicted of corruption.No mayors have been convicted or indictednot even Bill Thompson, who was backed by AlCapone.

　　從那之后，1828名選舉官員、指派官員、政府雇員和一小部分私人個體都因在伊利諾斯州實施腐敗而被治罪。他們中的84%都來自于州北部地區這是一塊包含芝加哥所有繁華區域的司法區。如今整個城市已經有 1/3的商人都被定為腐敗罪。沒有一個市長因腐敗被定罪或起訴，甚至在阿爾?卡彭支持下的比爾?湯普森也不例外。

　　Although Chicago is the capital of corruption, the state of Illinois as a whole ranks only thirdin the countryafter the much more populous states of New York and California. But thereport documents a pattern of crime that has become synonymous with the Chicago orIllinois way of doing things. All the corrupt governors and 26 of the aldermen had tried toextract bribes from builders, developers, business owners and those seeking to do businesswith the city or the state. Those who paid bribes either assumed, or were told, thatpayment was necessary for zoning changes, building permits or any other governmentaction.

　　雖然芝加哥身為腐敗之都，但是伊利諾斯州在全國的腐敗排名位居第三紐約州和加利福尼亞州在這點上更為眾望所歸。不過報告中描述了一種犯罪方式，這種方式與芝加哥和伊利諾斯州行事方式有相似之處。所有行為腐敗的市長和市參議員都曾向建筑商、發展商、大商人以及意欲與城市或者州進行生意交易的人索取過賄賂。這些被索取賄賂的人認為，也有其他人告訴他們，那些作為賄賂的錢財都是為地區改變、建筑許可或是其他任何政府行為所必須的。

　　Mr Blagojevich, notoriously, sought money in exchange for an appointment to a seat in theSenate. Other convictions may have been less spectacular, but the pattern of pay-offs forpolitical favours has prevailed in these parts for 150 years.

　　布拉格耶維奇尋找錢財為了在議會中享有一席之地的事情已經臭名昭著。他的其他罪名沒有這么嚴重，但是通過金錢來交換政治這種方式已經在這個地區盛行了150年了。

　　A project under way by the State Integrity Investigation, due out on March 19th, notes thatsome changes have been made in the light of past scandals. Mr Simpson thinks the ultimatesolution lies in ending the culture of corruption, which would include prohibiting patronage, nepotism and the holding of twogovernment jobs at the same time.

　　國家正義調查局正進行一個于3月19號結束的項目，他們發現在過去的丑聞影響下，一些變化悄然興起。辛普森先生認為禁止任命職務、任人唯親以及同時就職于政府兩個職位，這才是斷絕腐敗問題的最終解決方案。

　　Corruption has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and sapped faith in government.Both the new governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, and the new mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel,have shown a willingness to reform. Many of Mr Emanuels early executive orders aredesigned to improve transparency and accountability. But Mr Simpson says too manyloopholes remain. The devil, as ever, is in the detail.

　　腐敗問題以納稅人數以百萬計的金錢作為代價，并且使得公眾喪失了對政府的信任。伊利諾斯州的新州長奎恩和芝加哥的新市長拉姆?伊曼紐爾都表示了改革的決心。伊曼紐爾先生早期的行政命令也意在提高政府行政的透明度和信任感。但是辛普森先生說這個體制還是有太多的漏洞，而最終的魔鬼，仍然是在細節上。