On 16: 86. Some people believe that government officials must carry out the will of the people they serve. Others believe that officials should base their decisions on their own judgement.

Whether or not the government officials should consider the will of people they serve when they make decisions is controversial. Although sometimes making decisions regardless of the will of people can improve the work efficiency of public officials, its occurrence would lead to autocracy.

At the first place, when government officials make decisions, they must consider the opinions of citizens because the citizens are the people officials work for and please. Regardless of the will of citizens, the government would take risks of losing the supports and trust for the reason that citizens, including those supporters, cannot be satisfied by the behavior and decisions of officials. For example, response to the improving requirement of legal same-sex marriage, Barack Obama administration urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex couples.

However, the government officials should not make any decision according to the will of citizens. On the one hand, the divisive opinions in citizens would confuse the officials. The officials could not carry out everyone’s opinion and it is impossible for them to satisfy every citizen. Under this circumstance, the officials must make decisions on their own judgement, which is the ability they are expected to possess. On the other hand, decisions made by officials should benefit the whole country not specific person or some moral principles. For example, although many Americans repelled the war to Iraq and expected a more peaceful negotiation, the American government had to fight for the dominance in the Middle East.

The another important issue we have to discuss is how to draw a line about what kind of decisions should be made with the will of citizens. To simplify it, we can divide the decisions and the policies into citizen-benefit one and politic-benefit one. For the decisions and policies relate the benefits of citizens, such as medical insurance, education and public health, government officials have to consider the will of citizens. For the problems about military, finance and politics, the officials should keep calm and justifiable and make their own decisions though they may confront various opinions.

In conclusion, whether or not the government made decisions with the will of the people they serve should be discussed according to different conditions. The correct policies and decisions should maximize the benefits of both individuals and the country.