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

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (E).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

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

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

[ksandberg]

I thought that the author discussed the criticism of pluralist democracy to point out how Dahl actually agrees with these criticisms despite supporting pluralist democracies. As a result, I thought that any answer going against Dahl instead of supporting him would be incorrect. This rules out A, D, and E. I thought B was wrong because the author does not talk about rethinking the basis of democracy, but rather focuses on how to create something close to a true democracy. This left me with C. Dahl asks what changes might make politics more democratic, so I thought that C could be correct as it refers to changes.

I see that C is likely incorrect because Dahl does not suggest that government structures should be changed but rather asks one to ponder potential changes. I still do not understand why E is correct. Any insight is much appreciated. Thank you.

[Adam Tyson]

Thanks for the question, ksandberg. One thing you want to be careful of in these types of questions is bringing in too much information from later sections of the passage. The purpose of the third paragraph is typically going to be answered by reviewing that paragraph and what came before it, and not as much by reviewing what came later. So, while it is true that Dahl did agree with some of these criticisms, we don't learn that until after they have been presented to us in the third paragraph, and so his agreement may have little to do with the purpose of bringing them up.

Up to this point in the passage, we've learned that Dahl thinks polyarchy is "the nearest possible approximation to the democratic ideal". He thinks this is so because of the vote; that competition for votes from various groups will be the best way to spread political influence among the people as equally as possible. Groups that feel they are not being heard can organize and apply political pressure through the vote.

The third paragraph tells us that some people in the 60's and 70's argued that the vote wasn't enough, because there were other powerful political resources that were not evenly distributed. This is an objection to Dahl's point of view, showing that having a vote doesn't do enough to make individuals close to equal in a western polyarchy. That's why E is the best answer - this criticism is posed as an objection to Dahl's evaluation. The fact that we next find out that Dahl actually agrees with some of those criticisms and ponders what could be done to improve the economic systems and distribution of resources doesn't change the fact that those criticisms were initially posed as an objection.

Keep in mind that the criticism in the third paragraph is not the author's criticism, and also that an objection doesn't have to destroy the opposing claims.

One last thing, and that is your prephrase. Before considering any of the answer choices, you should come up with your own answer to the question as if it was a short answer test rather than multiple choice. The question is asking us "why" - why did the author bring up that criticism? Perhaps to show that not everyone agrees with Dahl's evaluation? To suggest that his position fails to take something into account? To show that while a polyarchy may be the best approximation of democracy, it's still not a very good one? Any of these prephrases should help you choose answer E over the other choices.

I hope that helps clear things up for you!