Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT101 S2 Q17 Explanation

After the Second World War, the

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsNecessary Assumption

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Stimulus

After the Second World War, the charter of the newly formed United Nations established an eleven- member Security Council and charged it with taking collective action in response to threats to world peace. The charter further provided that the five nations that were then the major powers would permanently have sole authority should be required to assume the burden of enforcing a decision it found repugnant.

What this question is testing

Necessary Assumption

Conclusion

The author treats the rationale as supporting permanent veto authority for the five nations that were major powers when the UN was founded.

Evidence

The reasoning: major powers bear the enforcement burden, and no nation should be forced to enforce something it finds repugnant.

Evaluate

Watch the time problem. The reasoning would naturally extend to any nation that becomes a major power — they'd also bear enforcement burden and deserve a veto. But the structure freezes the list at the founding moment. The argument quietly assumes no other nation will later rise to major-power status — otherwise the rationale would justify giving them a veto too, and the "permanent sole authority" arrangement falls apart.

Goal

The right answer establishes that no future nation would join the major-power club. Negate it (some new nation does become a major power) and the reasoning no longer supports permanent sole authority for just the original five.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
17.

The reason given for the structure of the Security Council

Answer choices

  1. Bad Assumption2% picked this

    it does not make sense to provide for democracy among nations when nations themselves are

    The argument doesn't need to dismiss democracy among nations. It just needs the original five to remain the relevant major powers. Negation test: even if it would make sense to provide democracy among nations, the argument's structure (permanent sole authority for the original five) is about who bears the burden, not about democratic principles. Not necessary.

  2. Correct69% picked this

    no nation that was not among the major powers at the end of the Second World War would

    Why this is right

    This is the necessary assumption. The reason given (major powers bear the enforcement burden) would naturally extend to any nation that becomes a major power, justifying a veto for them too. But the structure freezes the veto list at the original five. So the argument needs that no nation outside the original five will become a major power. Negation test: suppose some non-original nation does become a major power. Then by the same logic, that nation would also deserve a veto — and "permanent sole authority" for the original five is no longer supported.

    Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  3. Bad Assumption4% picked this

    nations would not eventually gravitate into large geographical blocs, each containing minor powers as well as at

    Whether nations gravitate into geographic blocs doesn't bear on who has veto authority based on enforcement burden. Negation test: even if such blocs did form, the argument's reasoning that major powers should have vetoes still holds. Not necessary.

  4. Bad Assumption10% picked this

    minor powers would not ally themselves with major powers to gain the protection of the veto

    The argument doesn't need to rule out informal alliance protection arrangements among minor powers. The argument is about formal veto authority and the rationale for it. Negation test: even if minor powers ally with major powers for protection, the structure (vetoes only for original five) still stands or falls based on the enforcement-burden reasoning. Not necessary.

  5. Bad Assumption15% picked this

    decisions reached by a majority of nations in response to threats to world peace would be biased in favor of

    The argument doesn't need to assume majority decisions would be unbiased. The reason given (enforcement burden on major powers) doesn't turn on whether majority votes would or wouldn't be biased. Negation test: even if majority decisions were biased, the rationale for major-power vetoes (based on enforcement burden) is unaffected. Not necessary.

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