#14 - People's political behavior frequently does not match

[SherryZ]

Hi there, thank you for your generous help!!

June 2001 LSAT, Sec 3 LR, #14:

I chose E, which is WRONG. The correct answer is B. Could you explain both E and B?

Thank you very much!

----Sherry

[Jacques Lamothe]

Hi Sherry,

The problem with (E) is that the claim is too strong. The author's conclusion is that voters OFTEN reelect politicians whose behavior they dislike. In other words, they often reelect politicians who act in ways contrary to the voters' political beliefs. Answer choice (E) claims that the the argument identified in the question stem is used as evidence that people's behavior NEVER matches their political beliefs. The author never rules out that sometimes people do vote in line with their political beliefs.

(B) perfectly describes the way in which the claim "people tend not to reelect inactive politicians" functions in the argument. The argument's conclusion is that voters often reelect politicians whose behavior they resent. The claim in the question stem functions as a premise that, when combined with the premises that individuals do not like government intervention and that active politicians pass laws that intervene in peoples' lives, allows the conclusion to be inferred.

I hope that helps!

Jacques

[kgalaraga93]

Hi there,

For this question I answered E but the answer is B. I understand why B is correct as that was going to be my second choice, but I don't understand why it can't be E as well. The author says that "although many complain about government intervention in their lives, they tend not to reelect inactive politicians" I feel like this shows how people say they don't like government intervention yet they want active politicians who are likely to intervene. This shows a difference between what they say and what they actually do which is what choice E highlights. An explanation would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Kim

[Clay Cooper]

Hi kgalaraga,

Thanks for your question, it highlights an important issue.

Answer choice E is wrong for one very specific reason: the word never. We cannot say that people's political behavior never matches their rhetoric based on what the author had told us; the author only demonstrates that people 'tend not to' reelect inactive politicians. In other words, though undoubtedly, if the author is correct, most people's rhetoric doesn't match their voting records, the fact that this trend 'tends to' occur does not support the statement in E that no one votes in a way that matches what they say.

Other than that one word, this answer choice is appealing; you can expect to see similar incorrect answer choices in other method of reasoning - argument part questions like this one: the test makers will often build an incorrect answer choice that is almost perfect but that gets one key word wrong, as does E.

Hope that helps, please let us know if you have any other questions.

[kgalaraga93]

Wow I didn't even catch that word "never" That's pretty tricky and makes all the difference. Thank you for your help!

[adlindsey]

I also had this one down to B & E. I choose E. I see the broad scope in it now. Also, in the first sentence of the stimulus:

people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric

Is it okay to assume that in E, political beliefs is a substitution for rhetoric? If so, the "never" in "people's behavior never matches their political beliefs," leaves out the possibility that "frequently does not" leaves open for matching.

[David Boyle]

I also had this one down to B & E. I choose E. I see the broad scope in it now. Also, in the first sentence of the stimulus:

people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric

Is it okay to assume that in E, political beliefs is a substitution for rhetoric? If so, the "never" in "people's behavior never matches their political beliefs," leaves out the possibility that "frequently does not" leaves open for matching.

Hello adlindsey,

Yes, "political beliefs" and "rhetoric" seem relatively synonymous here. ...I'm not sure what 'If so, the "never" in "people's behavior never matches their political beliefs," leaves out the possibility that "frequently does not" leaves open for matching.' means. If it means that, as Jacques says above, that "never" and "often" are different concepts, then you may be correct.

Hope this helps,
David

[Pragmatism]

I also had this one down to B & E. I choose E. I see the broad scope in it now. Also, in the first sentence of the stimulus:

people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric

Is it okay to assume that in E, political beliefs is a substitution for rhetoric? If so, the "never" in "people's behavior never matches their political beliefs," leaves out the possibility that "frequently does not" leaves open for matching.

I made the same mistake of choosing answer choice E; however, aside from the word "never" in the answer choice, I picked up another word that could be the achilles heel to this answer choice, and that is "political beliefs." I believe, the reason why anyone would choose this as an answer choice is because of the very first sentence, "People's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric." Now, while this analysis maybe subjectively plausible, it could help with future analysis of the power of words:

— The phrase "political behavior" could be taken to mean an action of doing something politically related, as in vote, help with a campaign, pass flyers, etc, while the word "rhetoric" traditional connotation is words. However, just because one utters something doesn't mean they necessarily believe the words they utter. Plus, we see this being an issue in the second sentence, "Although people often COMPLAIN," well now complain isn't a belief as the answer choice states, it is a mere feeling, and if rhetoric is to mean "complain," in the second sentence, then for sure it cannot mean to be a belief. Finally, if "political beliefs" is to defined as a conceptualization each individual concocts to define how a government ought to function, then laws are a consequence of how that belief is executed; so, to say, "complain about government intervention in their lives," would be completely contradictory to any political belief. The only form of "governance," which isn't a form of government is "anarchy," defined as "a state of society without government or law." Thus, that analysis alone would help mark this as an incorrect answer.

[Claire Horan]

Yes, very good, Pragmatism!

The question stem refers to sentence 2 of the stimulus, which provides an example (cites evidence) for the more general proposition laid out in sentence 1: that "People's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric." The argument contrasts political behavior (ex. voting) with rhetoric (ex. complaints), but does not involve political beliefs. Rhetoric has to do with outward communication/argumentation/speech/words, while beliefs may be entirely inward-looking/unknown based on someone's rhetoric.

Regarding why choice E is wrong, It looks like there were some miscommunications above, but you are right to point out that In addition to the lack of match between "frequently does not" and "never," there is also the problem that sentence 2 refers to "rhetoric" while choice E refers to "political beliefs," and these two terms are not synonymous.

[caroline222]

I thought the conclusion of this stimulus was that people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric. I saw the conclusion indicator word at the beginning of the last sentence, but the last sentence still seems to provide evidence for the fact that people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric. Can someone explain to me why this is not the conclusion?