#8 - Specific Reference, Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[soupynoodles14]

Hello, and Merry Christmas!

The term "centrifugal" is so confusing in this context. I understand that the Dahl is arguing for a political system in which people are "approximately" best served through "diffusion of power," but A and E can still fit that sense of thinking about it. I picked A for this question KNOWING that things were decentralized and also dynamic/changing. There is an argument to be made that pressure groups and competition in the party allow for the system as a whole to reach some sort of dynamic equilibrium.

Thank you.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi and a belated Merry Christmas soupynoodles14!

You can gain some traction in understanding what "centrifugal" means in this context by looking at the previous sentence. Indeed, we're given a reference to line 22, which refers to "this centrifugal characteristic," and the demonstrative "this" tells us to look back to what came before.

The prior sentence mentions "a diffusion of power away from any single center and toward a variety of individuals, groups, and organizations" (lines 20-22). So this discusses power moving away from a center. That fits pretty well with (A), which refers to decentralization. By contrast, the word "balance" is problematic in (C). The idea conveyed by lines 20-22 is of an imbalance of power, with one side (the center) having less than the other (individuals, groups, and organizations).