ISSUE 16 求改

zhanghaolin · 发表于 2012-11-7 13:01:07

Issue 16. Some people believe that in order to be effective, political leaders must yield to public opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise. Others believe that the most essential quality of an effective leader is the ability to remain consistently committed to particular principles and objectives.

The following argument has an extremely long history: whether the elected leaders should follow the general will, or in other words the public opinion, strictly or should make decision according to his experience and particular principles and objectives. In my point of view, both opinions have not only rationalities but also defects. Only by combining them reasonably and appropriately can the country has a healthy and robust democratic system.

Regardless of their own principles and objectives, elected leaders should follow the public opinions. This opinion is emphasized in no matter what kinds of democratic theories. Following the general will not only fulfill the needs of the public but also is one source of the leaders' governing legitimacy. Furthermore, following the public opinions itself is effective method to avoid corruption and favoritism. The importance of following general will is reflected from the Pericles reformation in ancient Greece to American constitution convention.

However, since the French revolution, considering that many famous thinkers, such as Tocqueville and Le Bon, put forward the concept of the danger of general will, supports to the leaders who establish their own principles and insist on them have been coming into the public interests. As these famous thinkers saying, public opinions are not always correct. Since the flaws in human nature, for example nearsightedness and crowd mentality, plus the spread of rumors and the mass crowd, some incorrect opinions not only can hardly be corrected but also lead huge destruction and harm. For supporting examples, one needs to look no further than the Italy and Nazi Germany in the period of 1920s to 1930s. Both Mussolini and Hitler won vast supports from their citizens at the eve of coming to power and the decisions made by people at that time make their descendents regret forever. Apparently, when people make such decisions, the only chance to correct them is in the hand of the leaders, for their intelligence and their insistence. If the leaders choose to conform the public opinions at this time, they will only bring disasters and destructions to the nation and country.

To sum up, the elected leaders should respect the general will; also, the public should give appropriate rights of deliberation and principle to the leaders. Conforming the general will strictly or ruling people at his will totally will inevitably bring us mob rule or dictatorship. Only a reasonable and appropriate combination of both methods can bring us a healthy and robust democratic system.

究竟一个民选领导人应该严格服从民众的意愿（general will），还是应该依照自己的经验，遵守经自己审慎后确立的原则是一个争论已久的话题。

民选领导人（elected leader）需要服从民众的意愿，无论其观点和目标如何，否则这也就与选举的目的背道而驰（run counter to）。服从民意既是满足民众所需，也是民选领导人执政合法性（governing legitimacy）的来源。无论是哪一种民主理论（democratic theory），都强调了这一种观点（this point of view）的重要性。从古希腊的伯里克利改革（Pericles reformation）到美国的制宪会议（American constitutional convention）都反映出了遵守民意的重要性。

但是近代以来，随着像托克维尔（Tocqueville）、勒庞（Le Bon）等著名思想家（famous thinker）提出了民众众意（general will）的危险性，对于民选领导人树立（establish）并坚持（insist）个人原则的呼声进入了公众的视角（public interests）。正如这种思想所言，民众的意愿并不一定总是正确的。由于个人具有的从众心理（crowd mentality）和短视（nearsightedness）等人性缺陷（flaws in human nature），再加上四处传播的流言（spread of rumors）和数量巨大的人群（massive crowd），一些错误的理念不但难以得到纠正（correct），反而还具有巨大的伤害性（harmfulness）和破坏性（destructiveness）。这方面的例子数不胜数（countless）：在意大利的墨索里尼（Mussolini）和纳粹德国（Nazi Germany）的希特勒（Hitler）上台前夕（eve of），他们都得到了民众的大量支持（a lot of support），而民众们当时的这个决定显然让他们的后代悔恨不已（make sb regret）。显然，当民众做出这样的错误决定时，唯一能够纠正错误的就只有民选领导人了。他们的原则，他们的智慧能够提供改变错误的机会，但若他们此时也严格遵守民意，只会给民族和国家（nation and country）带来灾难（disaster）。

综上所言（To sum up），领导人，应该尊重（respect）民意，但民众应该赋予领导人适当的（appropriate）审议的权力（right of deliberation），严格的（strictly）遵守民意或者完全依照领导人的意志（will）往往结果只是暴民统治（mob rule）或独裁专政（dictatorship）。只有两者的和理结合才能创造出健康有效的民主制度（democratic system）。

竹林中人 · 发表于 2012-11-7 13:45:13

The following argument has an extremely longhistory: whether the elected leaders should follow the general will, or inother words the public opinion, strictly or should make decision according tohis experience and particular principles and objectives. In my point of view,both opinions have not only rationalities but also defects. Only by combiningthem reasonably and appropriately can the country has a healthy and robustdemocratic system.

Regardless of their own principles and objectives,elected leaders should follow the public opinions. Thisopinion（应当用复数形式） is emphasized in no matter what kinds ofdemocratic theories. Following the general will not only fulfill the needs ofthe public but also is one source of the leaders' governing legitimacy. Furthermore,following the public opinions itself is effective method to avoid corruptionand favoritism. The importance of following general will is reflected from thePericles reformation in ancient Greeceto American constitution convention.

However, since the French revolution, consideringthat many famous thinkers, such as Tocqueville and Le Bon, put forward theconcept of the danger of general will, supports to the leaders who establishtheir own principles and insist on them have been coming into the publicinterests（这句话感觉理解起来有点吃力，谓语的主语不太明晰）. As thesefamous thinkers saying（as 后面应当是从句吧，这里就应当是says orsaid）, public opinions are not always correct. Since the flawsin human nature, for example nearsightedness and crowd mentality, plus thespread of rumors and the mass crowd, some incorrect opinions not only can hardlybe corrected but also lead huge destruction and harm. For supporting examples,one needs to look no further than the Italy and Nazi Germany in theperiod of 1920s to 1930s. Both Mussolini and Hitler won vast supports fromtheir citizens at the eve of coming to power and the decisions made by peopleat that time make their descendents regret forever. Apparently, when peoplemake such decisions, the only chance to correct them is in the hand of theleaders, for their intelligence and their insistence. If the leaders choose toconform the public opinions at this time, they will only bring disasters anddestructions to the nation and country.

To sum up, the elected leaders should respect thegeneral will; also, the public should give appropriate rights of deliberationand principle to the leaders. Conforming the general will strictly or rulingpeople at his will totally will inevitably bring us mob rule or dictatorship.Only a reasonable and appropriate combination of both methods can bring us ahealthy and robust democratic system.感觉LZ如果能具体阐述下在什么情况下需要听从民意而在什么情况下需要坚持自我判断和原则，在坚持自我判断和原则的时候又该如何避免犯错误，文中提到的combination该如何起作用。

zhanghaolin · 发表于 2012-11-7 14:46:38

谢谢竹林中人指教。

[作文互改] ISSUE 16 求改

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