It also shields a nation as large and diverse as ours from the infighting and inefficiency of sweeping policy.

Such sweeping policies, whether they come from a group like Act Up or from the government it opposes, will always have unintended consequences.

Nonetheless, despite these sweeping internal policies, Abdur Rahman's foreign policy was completely in foreign hands.

Vietnam has announced a sweeping domestic economic policy that in effect abandons centralized planning in favor of managerial decision-making at the factory level in state enterprises.

Industry groups said the sweeping policies surprised the timber industry in 2000.

He also implemented sweeping economic policies to regulate commercial activity and standardize quality throughout the country.

But before a sweeping policy of testing is instituted, some important questions need to be answered: How reliable is the testing procedure?

Despite having won two mayoral elections convincingly, Shirley Franklin has nonetheless received criticism over her sweeping pro-business policies.

An unusual alliance of people in government, industry, agriculture and the environmental movement called today for "sweeping new policies" to save the nation's rapidly disappearing wetlands.

"I'd hate to give the impression that we're ready to set sweeping policy across the industry," Mr. Turmail said yesterday.