"Leo" wrote:

The belief that a mandate for amateur
radio to participate in public service
communications is quite common -
just did a quick search on Google,
and II have attached an ARRL
reference as well as one amateur
radio club, who both clearly call it a
"mandate".


No, the real problem is that some simply don't understand the full meaning
of the word "mandate." They feel there is some kind of requirement behind
it. So, of course, they get confused when it is used in a non-required
context. However, there is no requirements associated associated with the
other senses of the word. For example, the president can be given a mandate
by the voters to lower taxes, but there is no requirement to do so. Amateur
Radio operators have a mandate to perform public service (it's in the basis
and purpose of this radio service), but there is no requirement to do so.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/