ISSUE8 政府对公众控制信息的重要性，求拍，有拍必回

爱上千年的猫UID: 2476232

超时5分钟。。汗。。。求拍，有拍必回~~
ISSUE 8. "It is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders to withhold information from the
public."

In the game of politics, withholding certain types of information from the public is undoubtedly a useful measure to maintain stable society and avoid undue public panic. However, an ideal democratic society requires enough forthrightness from political leaders, which is a basic need to satisfy the democratic principle. Excess withholding information would easily turn into demagoguery and undermine the base of democratic society.

I do admit that it's so inevitable way for political leaders to withhold certain types of information from the public that if not doing so, social stability and safety would be demolished. Some information, like the expenditure on national defense system, would put the country in a vulnerable international environment if announced to the public. In this case, not only the home residents get the information, but other country would also make use of this information, and therefore come up with counterpart strategies to develop itself at the expense of the home country's benefit. Under such conditions, when national stability and safety are involved, it is reasonable for political leaders to keep public from such information.

Nevertheless, if political leaders withhold too much information that would not threaten the national safety, the democratic principle would be easily undermined. No matter rich or poor, everyone has the right to know how the government performance to improve the living standard and therefore choose the leader who can maximize their welfare reasonably. For supporting examples, one needs look no further than the case of publishing government expenditures. Government collects funds by taxing its citizens and use public debt, while uses these funds to support public programs, like education and infrastructure. If the government announces how the funds are being spent yearly or even quarterly, it will certainly receive more support from the citizens, for people clearly recognized that the government is working hard to improve their life. Instead, those who keep this information unknown to the public would easily be suspected, since they may think that corruption may have happened in the government. Therefore, not withholding this kind of information would help political leaders gain more support rather than cause panic.

Meanwhile, withholding information from public, if excessively used, would easily create demagoguery. Political leaders are also human beings as you and me; they all have their selfish desires and weaknesses. If the political leaders intend to hold back all the information that is not in favor of them, the society won't develop and even get worse. The case of Chen Shuibian, who is the former leader of Taiwan, comes into mind immediately. In his duration, Chen used his political power to seek benefit for himself illegally in the cost of public welfare. Not until his scandal was disclosed, Taiwan's economic state would keep on sliding and people would become more disappointed to the government. Therefore, under certain situations, we even need to set up legislation to force political leaders to publish some vital information of them.

In sum, withholding information that would spoil national safety is necessary and useful. But the conclusion would not be generalized to all fields, like government expenditure. If all the information remains unknown to the public, democratic world would no longer exists and political leaders will lose support from his people, and therefore lose his political power.

lovevincentUID: 2726149

这个和北美范文也太雷同了吧~~~但愿楼主考试的时候没这么写～～～