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  3. [A]To some extent, this public hostility is well deserved. The bankruptcies of Enron in the U. S. and Parmalat in Italy last wee

[A]To some extent, this public hostility is well deserved. The bankruptcies of Enron in the U. S. and Parmalat in Italy last wee

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问题 [A]To some extent, this public hostility is well deserved. The bankruptcies of Enron in the U. S. and Parmalat in Italy last week, the gyrations of Japan’s stock market following news of alleged financial wrongdoing by Internet company Livedoor have focused attention on corporate misdeeds on three continents. Revelations about how the Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff allegedly bought influence in the U. S. Congress have made a mockery of claims for clean government. The U. N. is struggling to recover from its own high-level corruption scandal relating to the oil-for-food program in prewar Iraq. And, at a time when stock markets are booming, the global economy is growing at its fastest clip in three decades and chief executives are cutting themselves huge paychecks, ordinary people the world over have cause to complain about being locked out of the party.
[B]Corporations seeking to rebuild their image can always open their checkbooks. For example, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, excoriated in the 1990s for polluting the Niger Delta, is spending millions of dollars to combat malaria and aids in Africa, and is funding other initiatives aimed at improving the lives of those affected by oil exploration. Other firms have tried to make their peace with often-critical NGOs. British oil company BP, French retailer Carrefour and Swedish packaging manufacturer Tetra Pak are working with the World Wildlife Fund on environmental issues.
[C]Taken to an extreme, distrust gnaws away at some of the fundamentals of modern society. Why vote if all politicians are charlatans? Why work if all companies are crooked? Today, "Anyone with a beef can start a conspiracy theory, "says Frank Furedi, a controversial sociology professor at Britain’s University of Kent, who argues that deference to traditional authorities is being replaced by reverence for new ones. "We don’t trust politicians but we have faith in the pronouncements of celebrities. We are suspicious of medical doctors but we feel comfortable with healers who mumble on about being’holistic’and’natural. ’We certainly don’t trust scientists working for the pharmaceutical industry but we are happy to listen to the disinterested opinion of a herbalist. "
[D]In a poll last December, just 1% of French voters said they wanted President Jacques Chirac to stand for reelection in 2007. Some of Chirac’s peers may be smirking at his plight, but perhaps they should take note. For the French President’s rock-bottom ratings are an extreme example of a corrosive trend in public opinion that poses just as much of a threat to U. S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and leaders of dozens of other countries, as well as to the heads of global institutions and corporations from IBM to the International Monetary Fund(IMF). A recent poll of more than 20, 000 people in 20 countries revealed that public trust in national governments, the U. N. and multinational companies dropped significantly over the past two years.
[E]So what’s the solution? Transparency and a willingness to listen and adapt can help. While November’s unrest and arson attacks affected many suburbs around Paris, the town of Issy-les-Moulineaux to the south of the French capital was largely spared. There, Mayor Santini has bet heavily on technology infrastructure in a successful bid to attract international firms such as Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems. He’s also used technology to interact more openly with Issy’s 63,000 residents. Issy was the first French town to start an Internet-based local TV service, and last December it held an online election for councilors for Issy’s four districts. Candidates campaigned via their own blog pages and discussed issues with voters through the town’s website. Such measures have bolstered Santini’s local support: he won a landslide victory in the last municipal elections.
[F]Clarity of purpose can help with political leaders, just as it can with companies. Frustrated by constant blockage of his plans to reform the country’s financial system last year including by members of his own party Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appealed over the heads of the naysayers to the public, and won a landslide election victory. The only trouble: sometimes, clear leadership engenders not too little trust, but too much of it. In the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the reformist King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is so popular that he is having trouble persuading his people to replace his own feudal monarchy with a parliamentary democracy.
[G]Individuals may form communities, Benjamin Disraeli said, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation. Our courts, parliaments and associations set the collective rules of engagement that provide for the smooth and fair functioning of government, commerce and society. As the world becomes smaller, international bodies such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization are playing similar roles on a global stage. Yet the public’s faith in institutions appears to be waning.
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