Self-study
Political theorist: Conclusion Newly enacted laws need a period of immunity during which they can be repealed only if circumstances are dire. ████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ████████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ █████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███
Summary
We shouldn’t allow new laws to be repealed unless it’s an emergency. Why? Because immediate effects are likely to be negative and short-lived, but long-term benefits take time to manifest.
Notable Assumptions
The argument’s premises explain why a law might be worse right after being passed than in the long run. Then the argument concludes that we should have these laws stay in effect for longer periods of time. It does not explain why we should prioritize long-term benefits over short-term pain.
We are looking for a principle that explains why we should wait to see the long-term effects of a law, rather than just immediately repeal it to avoid short-term negative consequences.
21.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████████
a
Whether a law ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ███ ████████████ ████ ███
Wrong trigger. The argument isn’t about the importance of the voters’ opinions about a law - it’s about the short-term vs long-term effects of the law.
b
Whether a law ██████ ██ ████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ ████████████ ██ ███ ██████████
This explains why long-term effects of a law should be prioritized: the long-term benefits are what matter, so we should wait for them before repealing a law. The argument explains that we won’t know the long-term effects right after a law is passed, hence, period of immunity.
c
The repeal of █ ███ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████
The argument isn’t concerned with how difficult the passage of a law is or should be. It’s focused only on repealing laws.
d
The short-term consequences ██ █ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████████ ████ ███ ██████████ ████████████ ██ ███ ████████
Wrong trigger. The argument isn’t focused on the consequences of a repeal (what will happen after a law is repealed); the argument is focused on what determines the ability to repeal a law.
e
The long-term consequences ██ ███ █████████ ██ █ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ██████████ █████████████
Wrong trigger. This tells us about the criteria of a law being enacted, but the argument is focused on how we should decide to repeal a law that has already been enacted.