- Thu Sep 26, 2024 5:48 pm
#109269
Hi Noodles 93!
In this stimulus, Claude advocates for getting the public more involved in French foreign policy decisions by holding referenda on such decisions. Lorraine responds by arguing that introducing such referenda "would lead to foreign-policy disaster" because the general public is "unwilling or unable to become informed about foreign-policy issues."
The question stem then asks us to counter Lorraine's objection to Claude, which, as Dave notes above, is asking us to weaken her response. Answer choice (D) states that the "general public has little desire to become informed about foreign-policy issues precisely because it has little or no power to influence foreign-policy decisions." In other words, (D) is undercutting a reason that Lorraine uses in support of her conclusion. She claims that people are uninformed, thus they shouldn't have power via referenda to affect foreign policy decisions. Answer choice (D) is saying that they only are uninformed because they feel like they don't have power--presumably if they felt like they had the power to influence foreign policy decisions, then they would become more informed. This counters Lorraine's argument and bolsters Claude's view.
