PT103.S4.P1.Q2

PrepTest 103 - Section 4 - Passage 1 - Question 2

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P1

Opponents of compulsory national service claim that such a program is not in keeping with the liberal principles upon which Western democracies are founded. ███

Other people's (OP) perspective · Compulsory national service goes against liberal principles
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Analogy for OP's perspective · Income tax is undemocratic because it violates property rights
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Critique of OP's perspective · Context of community is basis of individual rights
Community requires shared sacrifice.
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Application of community context to taxes · Taxes justified for protection of society
Without taxes, there's no law enforcement, which would deprive society of communal benefit.
P2

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Application of community context to national service · Compulsory service justified for protection of society
Responsibility to defend one's nation against outside enemies is just as important as responsibility to pay taxes to support law enforcement.
P3

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Potential rebuttal by OP · Taxes and national service are not analogous
Coercion isn't required to get people to join the army, but is required to get people to pay taxes. And, proponents of national service extend compulsory duties to things beyond defending the nation.
P4

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Response to potential rebuttal · OP admits that state can demand service when needed
The issue becomes the scope of the "need." Everyone agrees that taxes are appropriate for things besides national defense. So where's the line between what activities are beneficial enough for compulsory service and what's not?
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Support for compulsory national service · Broad conception of "need" is justified
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Show answer
2.

The author indicates that all ███████████ █████ █████ ███

a

legitimacy of funding ███████ ████████ ████ █████ ███ ████████ ████

Supported. In P4, the author says that even the most conservative of politicians support spending tax money on certain beneficial programs, even if they aren’t necessary for the country’s survival. He’s implying that all politicians agree with this, since even the most conservative ones do.

89%
b

use of the ████████ ██ ███████ ████████ █████████

Unsupported. In P4, the author challenges the claim that using the military to contain civil unrest isn’t beneficial just because it’s not fighting foreign threats. But he never suggests that all politicians agree that the military should be used this way.

3%
c

similarity of conscription ███ ██████████ ████████

Unsupported. The author uses an argument against taxation as an analogy for his opponents’ argument against compulsory national service. But he never suggests that all politicians agree that the two scenarios are analogous.

3%
d

importance of broadening ███ ██████████ ██ █████████

Unsupported. Looking here, we see that the author agrees with the importance of a broadened definition of necessity, but he never suggests that all politicians agree with this.

3%
e

compatibility of compulsion ████ ██████████ ██████████

Unsupported. The author agrees that a specific instance of compulsion— compulsory national service— is compatible with democratic principles, not compulsion in general. Either way, he never suggests that all politicians agree with this.

3%

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