Without pressure from Country R, the government of S would be able to continue repressing its citizens indefinitely. Of all exports that could be sent to Country S, telecommunication equipment would be the most effective in helping citizens of S oppose that country's repressive government. The telecommunication equipment that would be imported into S if the exemption were to be granted would not be available solely to top government officials in S. A majority of the members of R's legislature do not favor exempting telecommunication equipment from the ban on exports to Country S.
In order to pressure the government of Country S to become less repressive, some legislators in Country R want to ban all exports from R to S. Companies in R that manufacture telecommunication equipment such as telephones and fax machines have argued that exports of their products should be exempted from the ban, on the grounds that it is impossible for a country to remain repressive when telecommunication equipment is widely available to the population of that country.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument given by the manufacturers depends?