#6 - Must Be True, Subject Perspective

[Administrator]

Question Line Reference
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=11045)

The correct answer choice is (E)

The justification for the correct answer choice can be found on:

(Lines 1-7; 56-60)

The answer to this question must also be confirmed by the information in the stimulus, and answer choice (E) is confirmed by the overall passage, and particularly by the opening and concluding paragraphs, in which the author discusses the topic of maintaining power in an authoritarian government and how best to do so.

[aamcgowa]

Can you please further explain why A is not correct?

[Robert Carroll]

aamcgowa,

Answer choice (A) presents an altruistic attitude of authoritarian rulers which the passage does not support. There is no indication that authoritarian rulers give up power in the passage because they want to help their nations, but because the nation demands such changes as the price of holding onto power - a ruler who refuses to compromise in the face of the reforms would simply be deposed. For specific support of that, the first paragraph of the passage and the last sentence of the passage provide substantial support for what I'm saying, and there is no support in the passage for the idea that rulers are compromising for altruistic reasons.

Robert Carroll

[ashpine17]

how do we know the author is confident though? i see some support but i guess not enough for confidence in the last paragraph

[Adam Tyson]

Are you perhaps referring to question 2 rather than question 6? The thread for that question can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=928&t=11050

The entire passage shows the author's confidence in their position. They make multiple statements with total certainty, starting with the very first line of the passage. This author is not hesitant, and they don't hedge their bets by saying things like "this is typically the case" or "under certain circumstances," nor do they ever say that this might be true or that is just a hypothesis. No, they are staking out this position with complete confidence: here's what they do and why they do it, here are the things that cause them to do it, and if they don't do it they will lose.

For this question, the author's position is stated at the beginning of the passage and again at the end. That position is that authoritarian rulers institute democratic reforms because they must do so if they want to retain power, and not because they believe in democratic ideals. Thus, the principle those rulers are following is "do what you must to stay in power." That matches answer E.