Q5

[b91302310]

Could someone explain how we could know that citizens view human rights abuses as "the only" objectionable aspect of authoritarian regimes?

Thanks.

[cyruswhittaker]

I think the answer is actually (D) for this question, not choice (E), which is just a way to express the fundamental idea presented in the passage of societal opposition to authoritarian rule leading to changes.

(E) completely goes against what is developed in paragraphs 3 and 4, which include some of the other reasons why people might find the regimes objectionable. The abuses are mentioned towards the end of paragraph two but they are presented more as an initial impetus for speaking out against these regimes.

[b91302310]

Yeah, I found that I referred to the wrong answer key. Thanks for your explanation!

[mcrittell]

Does this come from ln 5-9?

[LSAT-Chang]

What is wrong with A? Isn't it true that some authoritarian rulers will eventually institute democratic reforms even if not pressured because of these societal changes that accompany their rule?

[zee.brad]

What is wrong with A? Isn't it true that some authoritarian rulers will eventually institute democratic reforms even if not pressured because of these societal changes that accompany their rule?

I guess the reason is: they are always pressured.
1. From the 1st paragraph 1st sentence, we know that they do so not out of intrinsic commitment or conversion to democratic ideals, but rather foresee or recognize...
2. 5th paragraph, author says:"the more astute or calculating of AR will recognize this and realize that...."
So, they are pressured to reform.

Hope this helps.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

That's exactly right zee.brad!

Those societal changes mentioned in the passage are the pressures that force authoritarian rulers to undertake democratic reforms - eliminating answer choice (A). Someone might turn around and say well the passage says that most authoritarian rulers only do so out of pressure, so doesn't that meant that some would do so even without such pressure? Unfortunately even if most people do something, we cannot infer that some don't.

Answer choice (E), however, does follow from lines 1-10 of the passage.

Let's run through each of the incorrect answers in case someone has a question on one of those at some point:

(A) is unsupported by the text.
(B) contradicts the passage, which says that over time dissatisfaction actually grows (lines 10-13).
(C) runs counter to the final paragraph that suggests that expanded resources may increase popular ability to resist authoritarian regimes.
(E) is too strong. While human rights abuses may be an objectionable aspect of authoritarian rule, the passage provides at least one other potential objection to such rule in the 3rd paragraph - economics.

Hope that helps!

[kaseyb002]

Why is B wrong? Lines 51-57 caused me to feel like the initial imposition of the regime ->social stability + economic growth -> citizens reflecting on their circumstances -> what author seems to say gets people to demand more political freedom.

Therefore, citizens will be most dissatisfied in the beginning. I can see why the word "highest" or "most" dissatisfied would make it a bad answer though.

[LSATN100]

The key is to correctly understand the meaning of "pressured to do so."

I incorrectly interpreted it as "forced to do something against their will," so I thought if they foresee the changes and make precautions voluntarily, they are not pressured to do so. I thought "pressured to do so" is like the ruler is hijacked or besieged by uprising people and he has no choice but to resign.

However, what LSAT requires us to think is that if the ruler foresees the changes and makes precautions, he is pressured to do so.

[logicalt870]

Another problem with answer choice A for those interested:

We are told that most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do so as a way of protecting their long term power, rather than as an intrinsic commitment to democracy. In other words, the shift usually occurs due to leaders feeling pressure to maintain power due to the shifting societal values and norms. Does this imply that many authoritarian rulers would institute democratic reforms without any pressure to do so? Not at all. It is certainly a possibility though. If there are 100 authoritarian rulers in the world, and 60 of them shift to a democracy due to pressure and 40 of them shift to a democracy for other reasons, you could certainly say that many of them would institute democratic reform without pressure to do so - remember, many could simply mean more than one, it doesn't need to be a majority. However, could this fact be inferred from the passage? No, because it isn't discussed anywhere. No evidence is given that many rulers would shift to a democracy without any pressure to do so. Therefore, although it is a possibility, it cannot be reasonably inferred from the passage that this event would occur.