Logical Reasoning

PT157 · S2 · Q6 Democratic societies in which

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Democratic societies in which there is widespread discontent more often blame their politicians than they do other powerful figures who are at least as responsible for those societies’ woes.

Facts

causal diff-maker (this is because)

ppl feel they have more ppl more often power over politicians than >> blame politicians over other powerful figures than other powerful figs

Evaluate

When we see this Proposition / Generalization flavor of Most Supported, it almost always deals with a Causal Difference-Maker or some Pivot-Tension.

The causal connector "this is because" tells us we're dealing with causality.

Goal

Let's look for the most provable answer. It will presumably be reinforcing the causal connection that / .

6.

The case described above best illustrates which one of the following generalizations?

  1. Often the people who have

    Unsupported Distinction

    The stimulus never gets into "perception of power" vs. "actual power possessed". It's only getting into the idea that "when you perceive you have more power over someone, then you're more likely to blame them for society's woes".

    4% picked this

  2. People tend to ascribe more

    Unsupported Distinction

    We have no way to justify a comparison between familiar and unfamiliar people, in regards to how much power we ascribe to them. The passage somewhat insinuates that we are both more familiar with politicians and that we feel we have more power over them, but does not ever suggest we ascribe more power to politicians because of our familiarity.

    2% picked this

  3. To the extent that a

    Opposite

    This answer says that the more well-known a person is, the more likely they are to be blamed. But the stimulus explicitly rejects familiarity as the primary reason for disproportionate blame. The stimulus argues that people blame politicians more because they feel they have power over politicians, not because politicians are more familiar. This answer endorses the explanation the stimulus dismisses.

    1% picked this

  4. Publicly known people are usually

    Out of Scope: sufficiently responsible

    The stimulus does not address whether the level of blame directed at politicians is appropriate, excessive, or insufficient. The argument explains why politicians receive disproportionate blame compared to other powerful figures, not whether anyone is held sufficiently responsible. The concept of sufficient responsibility is an evaluative judgment that goes beyond the descriptive / causal language of the stimulus.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    People are more inclined to

    Why this is right

    This answer just spells out the Causal Diff-Maker indicated by "this is because". The stimulus shows that people in democracies blame politicians more than other equally responsible figures because they feel they have more power over politicians than over those other figures.

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

    90% picked this

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