Which of the following best completes the passage below?

“Government” does not exist as an independent entity defining policy. Instead there exists a group of

democratically elected pragmatists sensitive to the electorate, who establish policies that will result

in their own reelection. Therefore, if public policy is hostile to, say, environmental concerns, it is not

because of governmental perversity but because elected officials believe that ____.

(A) environmentalists would be extremely difficult to satisfy with any policy, however environmentally sound

(B) environmental concerns are being accommodated as well as public funds permit

(C) the public is overly anxious about environmental deterioration

(D) the majority of voters vote for certain politicians’ idiosyncratic positions on policy issues

(E) the majority of voters do not strongly wish for a different policy