Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT117 S3 Q8 Explanation

Rossi: It is undemocratic for

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

TopicsMethod

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Stimulus

Rossi: It is undemocratic for people to live under a government in which their interests are not represented. So children should have the right to vote, since sometimes the from those of their parents.

Smith: Granted, children’s interests are not always the same as their parents’; governmental deficits incurred by their parents’ generation will later affect their own generation’s standard of living. But even if children are told about the issues affecting them, which is not generally the case, their conceptions of what can or should those of adults, so we cannot give them the responsibility of voting.

What this question is testing

Method

Rossi's argument

Rossi opens with a sweeping rule: it's undemocratic for people to be governed without representation. Then Rossi applies that rule to children, arguing they should have the right to vote because their interests sometimes differ from their parents'.

Evaluate

This is a Method-of-argument question: how does Rossi's argument work? The structure is "general principle, then application." Rossi doesn't evaluate consequences, doesn't attack Smith's motives, doesn't shift definitions of a term — Rossi just appeals to a general democratic principle and shows it applies to children.

Goal

The answer that says: Rossi appeals to a general principle.

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

The question
8.

Which one of the following most accurately describes

Answer choices

  1. Correct78% picked this

    It makes an appeal to a

    Why this is right

    This describes Rossi exactly. Rossi's opening sentence — "It is undemocratic for people to live under a government in which their interests are not represented" — is a general principle. Rossi then applies it to children: their interests sometimes differ from their parents', so they should have the right to vote. Classic appeal to a general principle.

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

  2. Bad Description1% picked this

    It denies the good faith of

    Rossi doesn't accuse anyone of bad faith — there's no attack on a person's sincerity or honesty. Rossi makes a positive case for children's suffrage from a principle. No personal attack, no opponent being addressed in this passage.

  3. Bad Description6% picked this

    It relies on evaluating the predictable consequences of

    Rossi doesn't evaluate predictable consequences of giving children the vote. The argument is principle-based, not consequence-based. Rossi just says: representation is required by democracy, children have distinct interests, therefore they should vote. (Smith, in contrast, raises consequence-based concerns about children's decisional capacity — but the question is about Rossi.)

  4. Bad Description11% picked this

    It substitutes description for giving a rationale for

    Rossi gives an actual rationale for child suffrage — the appeal to the democratic representation principle. The argument isn't merely descriptive ("here's how things are"); it's normative ("here's why things should change," based on a principle). So Rossi doesn't substitute description for rationale.

  5. Bad Description4% picked this

    It employs a term on two different occasions in

    Rossi doesn't use any term with two different senses. The terms ("democratic," "interests," "representation") are used consistently. There's no semantic shift — Rossi runs straight from principle to application.

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