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  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  41
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.
The Carter example shows that for a leader______.
选项 A、rational judgement is important in face of unfavorable public opinion
B、public opinion is all the more important in difficult time
C、it is advisable to ignore public opinion in handling bad economic situations
D、it is important to be on good terms with. both the Congress and the public
答案A
解析 选项A的意思为：“面对不利的公众意见时理智的判断非常重要”。第三段指出，不能让民意代替理智的判断，否则，反而会危害公众利益(do a disservice to the public)。在制定治理通货膨胀的(inflation fighting)计划时，卡特总统表现得很不果断，随着民意(public sentiment)的改变几易其计划，结果未能调动其政治力量( political capital)去赢得国会和全国的支持(get Congress and the country behind any of
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