#16 - Among multiparty democracies, those with the fewest

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Assumption. The correct answer choice is (C)

The author presents the conclusion of this stimulus in the first sentence:

Multiparty democracies with fewest parties have the most productive legislatures.

This conclusion is based on the following premises:

• Premise 1: The fewer the parties, the more issues each must take a stand on.
  
  Premise 2: A wide variety of issues forces prioritization.
  
  Premise 3: Prioritization promotes a tendency to compromise.

The above premises can be diagrammed as follows:

• Fewer parties more issues prioritization compromise

In order to draw the conclusion presented in the stimulus, the author must believe that compromise is tied to productivity. In responding to this supporter assumption question, we should therefore look for the answer choice which allows for the following conditional statement:

• Fewer parties more issues prioritization compromise productivity

Thus we can prephrase the answer to this supporter assumption question.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. We must somehow link productivity with one of the sufficient conditions to the left in the diagram above. Correct answer choice (C) achieves exactly this, by linking compromise to productivity:

• compromise productivity

Answer choices (A) and (B) are incorrect because the stimulus doesn’t deal with disagreements within parties, or with the importance of compromise. Answer choices (D) and (E) are also incorrect, because the author never mentions nondemocracies, or whether or not legislators ever all agree.

[sblack1998]

So if you were using the Assumption Negation Technique with answer C which reads, "The tendency to compromise makes the legislative process more productive." How would you negate this statement? The tendency NOT to compromise makes the legislative process more productive?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi sblack,

To negate something, you have to find the logical opposite. Typically, you are looking to negate the main verb in the statement.

Some examples:

Mary likes pizza.
Mary does not like pizza.

We wouldn't say that Mary likes not-pizza because that's not the logical opposite of liking pizza. The liking is the key verb.

Running up a hill on a sunny day, Buttercup could not stop looking for Wesley.
Running up a hill on a sunny day, Buttercup could stop looking for Wesley.

It can be pretty easy when you just have to remove the "not" in the verb phrase.

Looking here, the main verb is "makes."

The tendency to compromise makes the legislative process more productive would become "The tendency to compromise does notmake the legislative process more productive."

Hope that helps!