Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT130 S3 Q6 Explanation

Elena: The best form of government

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

TopicsMethod

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Stimulus

Elena: The best form of government is one that fosters the belief among its citizens that they have a say in how the government is best form of government.

Marsha: But there are many forms of government under which citizens can be manipulated into believing they when they don't.

What this question is testing

Method

Your task

Describe how the argument proceeds — the technique it uses to reach its conclusion.

Common trap

Answers that describe a method the argument doesn't actually use.

Winning move

Track the role each statement plays, then match that to the choice describing the same moves.

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

The question
6.

Marsha's claim that it is possible for governments to manipulate people into thinking that they have a say when they do

Answer choices

  1. Opposite1% picked this

    concur with Elena's claim that democracy is the best form

    If anything, Marsha’s claim suggests reason to doubt that democracy can be called the best, based on this rule.

  2. Unsupported2% picked this

    support Marsha's unstated conclusion that the best form of government is one that appears to be democratic

    Unsupported: "best government is a fake-democratic one" We don’t have enough to go off to believe that Marsha is advocating that best form of government is one that pretends to be democratic. She is just objecting to Elena’s reasoning, since Elena’s basis for picking best applies to more than one form of government.

  3. Correct80% picked this

    suggest that the premise Elena uses to support her conclusion could be used to support

    Why this is right

    Since other forms of government would also qualify by Elena’s rule, one could draw a different conclusion about the best form of government using the same rule.

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

  4. Unsupported3% picked this

    support Marsha's unstated conclusion that most people seek only the appearance of democracy rather

    Unsupported: “most people only want pretend democracy” We don’t know what Marsha’s conclusion would be. The safest guess is, “Thus, Elena, your premise does not entail your conclusion.” We have no support for the idea that Marsha is arguing that most people only want the appearance of democracy.

  5. Too Strong: "Reject Elena's conclusion"14% picked this

    reject Elena's conclusion that the best form of government

    This doesn’t go as far as B or D, but it has the same overreach into assuming anything about what Marsha thinks is the best form. I might agree with your position on, for example, universal health care, but still disagree with the argument you’re trying to make for it. Similarly, Marsha might agree that democracy is the best, but just not for the reason that Elena is offering. Disagreeing with someone’s reasoning does not show us whether you disagree with their conclusion.

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