Reading 4
 In analyzing the representation of white ethnic groups, it has been customary to use aframework I term responsive pluralism, which emphasizes the response of politicalelites to newly mobilized political forces that are demanding recognition. A key tenetof responsive pluralism is that all votes are equal and fungible. In other words, politicalelites---those with power--will entertain the possibility of a coalition with any groupthat possesses votes. In return for these votes, the elites will make available a stream ofpublic goods in the form of patronage, symbolic recognition, and social services. But for minorities, the situation is more complex and considerably less flattering toAmerica's preferred conception of its political traditions. Simply put, minorities haveoften faced constraints on their participation in the American polity due to their socialand legal status. This situation has resulted in what I term stratified pluralism. Asmembers of racial or other categories, they have often been defined out of the realm offull citizenship as it is usually understood in a democracy. Blacks in particular could not vote for a long time so candidacies for office were notfeasible. It was not until the democratic rights of citizenship were formally recognizedby the polity that racial minorities could even compete as players in the electoral arena.Moreover, racism further hampered minority advancement even after the vote had beengranted. In some cases, white voters simply refused to vote for minority candidates； inothers, the elites themselves made it clear that they wished to limit or prevent minorityrepresentation. Minority votes were considered less desirable than white votes, and theywere therefore less fungible as a commodity to be exchanged for public goods.Minorities were often incorporated into a dominant coalition only if a race-orientedagenda was abandoned by the minority leaders. As a consequence of stratified pluralism,widespread and efficacious minority officeholding has been the exception rather thanthe rule in U.S. history. A group trying to elect representatives to office must use the electoral process to convertits demographic raw materials into positions of authority in government: in effect, thegroup tries to translate numbers into power. There is nothing automatic or mechanicalabout this process of conversion. It is conditioned by at least five distinct factors, eachof which can intervene to prevent a group from being represented in office in relationto its proportion of the population: enfranchisement, mobilization, spatial concentration,favorable districts, and coalitions.
【題組】39. Which of the following is most likely to be considered by the author as in linewith "America's preferred conception of its political traditions"?
(A) Minorities have often faced constraints on their participation in theAmerican polity.
(B) Widespread and efficacious officeholding has remained difficult for whiteethnic groups.
(C) Political elites would respond to the demand of minorities in exchange forpolitical donations.
(D) All votes are equal and fungible.
(E) Newly mobilized political forces are rarely granted the possibility ofrecognition they demand.