PrepTest 89, Section 2, Question 21
Professor: It has been argued that all judges should be elected rather than appointed to their positions. But this is a bad idea. If judges ran for election, they would have to raise campaign funds. Thus, they would be likely to accept campaign contributions from special interests. It is well-known that such contributions lead to conflicts of interest for politicians, so it is to be expected that they would produce similar conflicts of interest for judges.
Professor: It has been argued that all judges should be elected rather than appointed to their positions. But this is a bad idea. If judges ran for election, they would have to raise campaign funds. Thus, they would be likely to accept campaign contributions from special interests. It is well-known that such contributions lead to conflicts of interest for politicians, so it is to be expected that they would produce similar conflicts of interest for judges.
Professor: It has been argued that all judges should be elected rather than appointed to their positions. But this is a bad idea. If judges ran for election, they would have to raise campaign funds. Thus, they would be likely to accept campaign contributions from special interests. It is well-known that such contributions lead to conflicts of interest for politicians, so it is to be expected that they would produce similar conflicts of interest for judges.
Professor: It has been argued that all judges should be elected rather than appointed to their positions. But this is a bad idea. If judges ran for election, they would have to raise campaign funds. Thus, they would be likely to accept campaign contributions from special interests. It is well-known that such contributions lead to conflicts of interest for politicians, so it is to be expected that they would produce similar conflicts of interest for judges.
Which one of the following principles, if valid, would most help to justify the professor's reasoning?
If politicians should avoid conflicts of interest, then judges should avoid conflicts of interest as well.
Special interests should not make offers of campaign contributions to those running for elective office.
Judges should be appointed to their positions only if doing so ensures that they will usually be able to avoid conflicts of interest.
If judges should be appointed, then it is likely that there are other public offices that should be changed from elected to appointed offices.
No public office for which election campaigning would be likely to produce conflicts of interest should be changed from an appointed to an elected office.
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