Q10

 
agersh144
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Elle Woods
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Q10

by agersh144 Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:13 pm

According to the passage the aim of a political party in a polyarchy is to do which one of the following?

The pericope which is germane to this question is 25-32

Polarchy achieves this diffusion of power through party competition and the operation of pressure groups. Competing for votes, parties seek to offer different sections of the electorate that they most want; they do not ask what the majority thinks of an issue, but what policy commitments will sway the electoral decisions of particular groups.

Let's hit the questions:
A) Directly contradicted by the passage in lines 29-30
B) It can be deduced from the passage that if they "determine what they most want" and are "competing for votes" and are looking to sway voters this fits like a glove "they will determine what position on an issue will earn the support of particular groups of voters"
C) Is tricky and got me on my first try. Political parts diffuse power by competing for VOTES not necessarily by winning or competing on a issue in particular. They are looking to sway blocks of voters not necessarily win a contest for an issue -- they issues that move the dial will be the major objective for political parties and thus C is close but misses the mark just by a smidgen.
D) Nope. All it says about officials is they are accountable to their electorate not that it ENSURES anything.
E) Not even close. Again same as D it doesn't ENSURE anything other than accountability -- if they mess up they COULD be shown the door and thus this reinforces diffusion of power.

Hope this helps!
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rinagoldfield
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Re: Q10

by rinagoldfield Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:25 am

Hey agersh144!

Thanks for your post. This is a hard passage!

I agree with your take on (A) and (B), but I see (C), (D), and (E) slightly differently.

(C) is mostly out because of the verb "organize." The passage tells us that "groups that have strong feelings about an issue can organize in pressure groups to influence public policy" (lines 32-34). This means that citizens organize themselves, NOT that political parties organize citizens.

Put another way:

The passage tells us that political parties try to meet the demands of groups of voters. It does NOT tell us that political parties CREATE groups of voters.

(D) shifts the target from "voting groups" to "party." According to the passage, the role of the political party is to "offer different sections of the electorate what they most want" (lines 27-29).

The party therefore seeks to "accurately represent" the desires of a section of the electorate.

The party does not seek to "accurately represent" the party itself.

(E) is too broad. The party seeks to accurately represent "different SECTIONS of the electorate" (lines 27-29). This is different than representing the electorate in general.

What do you think, agersh144? Do you agree with my disagreements? Or do you have a rejoinder?
 
agersh144
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Elle Woods
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Re: Q10

by agersh144 Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:08 pm

Nope, I think you hit the nail on the head Rina -- thanks for the clarification, appreciate it :)