2. 外语
  3. Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinki

Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinki

admin2009-02-10  52
问题      Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinking. An important question is the degree to which these polls should guide leaders in their actions. There are arguments for and against the use of polls as the basis for policy decisions.
     Polls can contribute to effective government by keeping political leaders from getting too far out of line with the public’ s thinking. In a democratic society, the effectiveness of a public policy often depends on the extent of its public support. When a policy is contrary to the public’ s desires, people may choose to disregard or undermine it, thus making it counterproductive or inefficient. Further, when government pursues a course of action with which a large proportion of the public disagrees, it risks a loss of public confidence, which can have a negative effect On its ability to lead. The Reagan administration, flying high from 1981 to 1985, was brought low in 1986 by public reaction to news of its secret sales of weapons to Iran. The administration had not paid sufficient attention to polls that revealed the deep antagonism Americans still felt toward Iran because the Ayatollah Khomeini’ s regime had held sixty-three American hostages in 1979 and 1981.
     However, leaders can also do a disservice to the public they represent by using poll results as a substitute for policy judgment, Effective government", as Walter Lippmann wrote, "cannot be conducted by legislators and officials who, when a question is presented, ask themselves first and last not what is the truth and which is the right and necessary course, but What does the Gallup Poll say?" During his presidential term, Jimmy Carter proposed five consecutive inflation fighting programs, changing his plans with each shift in public sentiment without having invested the political capital necessary to get Congress and the country behind any of the efforts.
     The nation and Carter would probably have been better served by a steadfast commitment to a single course of action.
What Walter Lippmann means is that______.
选项 A、some government leaders can never run the government effectively
B、in solving any problem, leaders should first try to find out the public opinion on it
C、good leaders should learn to disregard public opinion in policy making
D、leaders should take effective decisions based on sound judgment and act on them with determination
答案D
解析 里普曼指出，在问题面前，一个高效的政府不应该始终问自己“民意如何”(Gallup Poll意为：“盖洛普民意测验”，指一种民意测验方法)，而应该问：“什么是现实?该如何正确处理?”(course在此意为：“行动方针”)下文举了卡特总统的例子做了进一步说明。当然，这并不是说应无视民意，而是说不应该让民意代替制定政策时所应做出的判断(参考第三段第一句)。
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