PT137.S1.P4.Q21

PrepTest 137 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 21

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P1

Can a sovereign have unlimited legal power. ██ █ █████████ ████ ████ █████████ █████ ██████ ████ ███ █████████ ██████████ ███ ███ █████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ██████████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████████████ ███ ███████ ████████████ ████ ███████████ █████████ ██ █████████████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████████

Question · Can a sovereign be omnipotent?
If so, then the sovereign has the power to limit its own power which means it no longer has unlimited power. That's the paradox of omnipotence.
P2

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OPA · Sovereign omnipotence can be a source of difficulty for soverigns
E.g., the English and French monarchies experienced this
P3

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OPA · It can be good for sovereigns to have their power be limited
E.g., having absolute power means you can refuse to honor debts which means that you can't get a loan.
P4

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OPA Example · French and English's unlimited power hurt them
These sovereigns failed to pay debt and expropriated property. Consequently, creditors started demanding high interest rates to capture risk of default.
P5

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OPA Solution / Conclusion · The Parliament's limit of the Crown's power resolved the paradox
The Parliament was able to credibly commit the Crown to honor is debts. Consequently, the Crown was able to borrow at a much lower rate.
P6

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OPA legacy · Constitutional limits to powers as a benefit is now the conventional view
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Author’s Critique · Constitutions can fail to limit power
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Author’s Argument · Did not solve the problem; merely shifted it
The paradox of omnipotence still exists. All the constitution does is to take omnipotence away from the Crown and give it to itself, the Parliament.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
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21.

The passage most strongly supports ███ █████ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ███████ ████████ ██ █████ ██████████

a

They did not ██████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████

There’s no evidence the creditors had a view about what is fair to contribute toward the cost of expanding empires.

2%
b

They focused on ██████████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ████████████

There’s no evidence creditors believed wealthy subjects focused on short-term gains. The only mention of wealthy subjects relatees to the idea that creditors demanded lower interest rates from them than from monarchs.

9%
c

They were trying ██ █████████ █ ██████████ ████ █████ ███████ ████████ ███████

There’s no evidence the creditors believed wealthy subjects were trying to establish a government.

3%
d

They clearly understood ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ████████████

There’s no evidence the creditors believed wealthy subjects understood the paradox of sovereign omnipotence.

4%
e

They were more ██████ ████ █████ ████████ ██ █████ █████████ ████████████

We’re told that these creditors “demanded higher interest rates from monarchs than from the monarchs' wealthy subjects.” This suggests they found wealthy subjects to be more likely to pay their loans back than the monarchs.

82%

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