PrepTest 143, Section 4, Question 18
Wong: Although all countries are better off as(48 more words not shown)
Wong's and Tate's statements provide(18 more words not shown)
- AThere are some(10 more words not shown)
- BNothing is more(17 more words not shown)
- CIn some cases,(6 more words not shown)
- DThe freedom and(8 more words not shown)
- EAll democracies succeed(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Wong isn't saying that a country must be democratic at every stage. Wong allows a period of autocratic rule as a transition. The larger commitment is that every country is better off as a democracy.
Tate challenges that commitment. Freedom and autonomy matter, Tate says, but meeting basic material needs matters more. If some countries can meet those needs better under autocratic rule, Tate has a reason to prefer autocracy in those cases even while recognizing democracy's benefits.
What we’re looking for
That's the disagreement to look for: is democracy the better form of government for every country, or can some countries be better off as autocracies? We don't need to turn Tate's view into a prediction about what will last forever. We just need the opposed judgments about which system is better.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Tate's ranking of needs, together with the claim that some countries meet those needs better as autocracies, supports saying some countries are better off that way. Wong rejects that: all countries are better off as democracies, even if an autocratic transition is sometimes required. The distinction between a temporary step and the preferable system keeps their positions clear.
- B
Tate would reject this absolute priority for freedom and autonomy, because Tate considers material needs more important. But Wong never explains why democracy is better. Wong could favor democracy for several reasons without claiming nothing matters more than individual freedom. We lack Wong's opposing answer.
- C
Neither speaker says a country can never become democratic. Wong discusses a stage that may be required to get there. Tate discusses which system better serves some countries, not whether democratic government is impossible for them.
- D
Tate explicitly accepts the value of freedom and autonomy. Wong's preference for democracy gives us no basis for assigning Wong the opposite view. The disagreement concerns how to weigh democracy's benefits against other needs, not whether its freedoms have any value.
- E
Neither speaker claims that every democracy successfully meets material needs. Wong's overall preference doesn't establish that each democracy meets those needs, and Tate's comparison with autocracies doesn't tell us exactly which democracies succeed or fail. This isn't the proposition on which their statements put them on opposite sides.
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