LSAT 143 – Section 4 – Question 18

LSAT 143 - Section 4 - Question 18

June 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT143 S4 Q18
+LR
+Exp
Point at issue: disagree +Disagr
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Value Judgment +ValJudg
A
91%
164
B
3%
158
C
3%
156
D
1%
148
E
3%
156
129
140
150
 +Easier 146.108 +SubsectionMedium

Wong: Although all countries are better off as democracies, a transitional autocratic stage is sometimes required before a country can become democratic.

Tate: The freedom and autonomy that democracy provides are of genuine value, but the simple material needs of people are more important. Some countries can better meet these needs as autocracies than as democracies.

Speaker 1 Summary
Wong doesn’t make an argument, because there’s no structure of support for a conclusion. Instead, Wong just makes two factual claims: first, that all countries are better off as democracies, and second, that sometimes a period of autocracy is required for a country to transition to democracy.

Speaker 2 Summary
Tate’s claims support the unstated conclusion that some countries are better off as autocracies. Tate states that people’s material needs are more important than democratic freedom and autonomy. Furthermore, sometimes an autocratic government is more able to meet people’s material needs. From these, it follows that autocracy is sometimes a better option to meet people’s most important needs.

Objective
We’re looking for a disagreement between Wong and Tate. They disagree about whether countries are ever better off as autocracies.

A
There are some countries that are better off as autocracies than as democracies.
Wong disagrees with this but Tate agrees, so this is the point of disagreement. Wong says explicitly that this claim is false. Tate, however, implies that some countries are better off as autocracies by saying that sometimes autocracies better meet people’s most important need.
B
Nothing is more important to a country than the freedom and autonomy of the individuals who live in that country.
Tate disagrees with this, but Wong never states an opinion. Wong just claims directly that countries are always better off as democracies, but doesn’t back that up with any specifics of what democracy can offer.
C
In some cases, a country cannot become a democracy.
Neither speaker makes this claim. Wong says that sometimes a country requires a period of autocracy first to become a democracy, and Tate never talks about the requirements of becoming democratic. Certainly neither says it’s ever impossible.
D
The freedom and autonomy that democracy provides are of genuine value.
Tate agrees with this, but Wong never states an opinion. Wong clearly supports democracy, but never says why, so we don’t know if it’s because Wong values freedom and autonomy or if it’s for some other reason.
E
All democracies succeed in meeting the simple material needs of people.
Neither speaker claims this. Only Tate discusses material needs at all, and still never states an opinion about whether or not all democracies can meet material needs. All Tate says is that sometimes autocracies are better at doing so.

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LSAT PrepTest 143 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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