Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT123 S3 Q19 Explanation

Editor: Many candidates say that

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

TopicsStrengthen

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Stimulus

Editor: Many candidates say that if elected they will reduce governmental intrusion into voters’ lives. But voters actually elect politicians who instead promise that the government will provide assistance to solve their most pressing problems. Governmental assistance, however, costs money, and money can come only from taxes, which can be considered a voters will rarely be substantially reduced over time in a democracy.

What this question is testing

Strengthen

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion more likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that are consistent with the argument but add no real support, or that strengthen a claim the argument doesn't make.

Winning move

Locate the gap between evidence and conclusion, then pick the choice that closes it.

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

The question
19.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the

Answer choices

  1. Correct55% picked this

    Politicians who win their elections usually keep their

    Why this is right

    If it turns out that politicians who get elected don’t do what they said they would, then no taxpayer money would get spent, and so intrusion would not be going up at all. This answer goes the opposite of that objection, saying that politicians WILL keep their promises, and thus will spend tax money, and thus will continue intruding into people's lives.

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

  2. Weakens12% picked this

    Politicians never promise what they really intend to do once

    This is the opposite of (A). This actually affirms one of our objections, as opposed to going against it, as (A) does.

  3. Out of Scope13% picked this

    The most common problems people have are

    The types of problems voters have are irrelevant to whether the solutions created by politicians increase governmental intrusion.

  4. Irrelevant11% picked this

    Governmental intrusion into the lives of voters is no more burdensome in nondemocratic countries than

    The level of burden created by governmental intrusion into the lives of voters.

  5. Weakens8% picked this

    Politicians who promise to do what they actually believe ought to be done

    This undermines the argument, by distinguishing what is promised from what is believed ought to be done. But even this fails to distinguish between what is promised and what actually happens.

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