Classicist: In the ancient Athenian

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

TopicsSufficient Assumption

Keep going in LSAT Lab

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Free to start

Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

Classicist: In the ancient Athenian democracy, unlike in any other political system in world history, the legislature consisted of all eligible voters. Athenian voters, not elected representatives, made all political decisions by direct vote after public debate in the Assembly. true democracy, it was only in ancient Athens.

What this question is testing

Sufficient Assumption

Your task

Find the assumption that, if added, guarantees the conclusion follows.

Common trap

Answers that only partly bridge the gap, leaving the conclusion unproven.

Winning move

Identify the new term in the conclusion and pick the choice that links it to the evidence.

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

The question

The conclusion of the classicist’s argument follows logically if which one of the

Answer choices

Unrelated to Goal1% picked this
Most political systems in world history have not
Since this doesn't provide a rule that says, "If xyz, then not true democracy", it won't help us to prove the conclusion.
1%
Unrelated to Goal1% picked this
Public debate is an essential part of any democratic
Since this doesn't provide a rule that says, "If xyz, then not true democracy", it won't help us to prove the conclusion.
1%
Unrelated to Goal2% picked this
Athens was the only city in ancient Greece that had a
Since this doesn't provide a rule that says, "If xyz, then not true democracy", it won't help us to prove the conclusion.
2%
Correct94% picked this
A political system is not a true democracy unless the eligible voters themselves vote directly
Why this is right
This is one of those fun Sufficient Assumption examples where the "New Concept in Conclusion" shortcut takes us all the way to the correct answer choice. We're trying to prove that all other political systems besides ancient Athens were not true democracies. This is the only answer that provides a rule that would allow us to prove "not true democracy": Eligible voters don't not a true themselves vote directly ? democracy on all political decisions We were told that ancient Athens was the only political system in world history in which the legislature consisted of all eligible voters, who made all political decisions by direct vote. So we know that this rule applies to every other political system, proving that none of them were true democracies. Thus, it allows us to derive the conclusion that "Other than possibly ancient Athens, the world has never known true democracy".
Skill tested: Sufficient Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
94%
Unrelated to Goal2% picked this
Most Athenians who were eligible to vote attended the Assembly whenever it was debating
Since this doesn't provide a rule that says, "If xyz, then not true democracy", it won't help us to prove the conclusion.
2%

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free