PrepTest 144, Section 3, Question 23
Columnist: Although most people favor the bill and(57 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AIn a well-functioning(26 more words not shown)
- BIf a democracy(23 more words not shown)
- CIn a well-functioning(26 more words not shown)
- DAny bill passed(20 more words not shown)
- EA bill that(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Most people want the bill. Why won't it pass?
Maybe the policy sounds appealing but wouldn't work. Maybe the legislature is slow to act. Or maybe powerful people dislike it. Popularity and respect for basic rights don't, by themselves, tell us everything about whether a bill should become law or why it hasn't.
The columnist points to influential opponents who would be harmed by the bill. Imagine a proposed reform that would cost a powerful industry money. Its opposition could help explain why a popular proposal gets stuck. But explaining the delay isn't yet the same as establishing that the country's democracy is functioning badly.
What standard of a well-functioning democracy are we using? The columnist needs a rule connecting this obstruction or delay with that judgment. We don't have to import our own definition of democracy or decide that any outside influence is unacceptable.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for a principle that helps justify the conclusion. I'd look for a rule showing why the influential opponents' ability to block this popular, rights-respecting bill conflicts with how a well-functioning democracy should operate. Pay attention to the delay: the bill may pass eventually, but it won't pass for many years.
Working the answers
- A
This comes close, but it changes 'favored by most people' into 'would benefit most people.' People can favor something that won't actually benefit them, or support it because it benefits someone else. We weren't told that this bill benefits most people, so we can't establish that it meets A's condition.
- B
Eventually could be a hundred years from now. The passage says the bill won't pass for many years, if at all. It leaves open the possibility that it does eventually pass. B's requirement could therefore be satisfied even in the situation the columnist criticizes, so it doesn't establish that the democracy is functioning badly.
- C
This allows influential opposition to stand in the way of prompt passage. It says that for a popular bill to pass within a few years in a well-functioning democracy, its opponents must not be very influential. Our opponents are influential. Their blocking the bill would be compatible with this rule, rather than showing a failure to meet it.
- D
This describes bills that have been passed: they must be popular and respect rights. It doesn't require every popular, rights-respecting bill to pass. A system could satisfy D by passing only a few qualifying bills while leaving this one stalled. We need a rule demanding passage under these circumstances, not merely a rule restricting what may pass.
- ECorrect
This supplies the needed standard. In a well-functioning democracy, a bill favored by most people that violates no basic human rights passes promptly. Our bill meets both conditions, yet it won't pass for many years, if ever.
The country therefore fails the standard E gives us. Even if it is a democracy, it cannot be a well-functioning one under this principle. That establishes the columnist's actual conclusion without requiring us to deny that the country is a democracy at all.
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