Q2 - Classicist: In the ancient

[smiller]

Question Type:
Sufficient Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Premise: In ancient Athens, political decisions were made by Athenian voters, who voted directly on issues, not by elected representatives.
Premise: No other political system in world history was like this.
Conclusion: If there has ever been a true democracy it occurred only in ancient Athens.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument contains a shift that could be easy to miss: the premises describe how Athenian voters voted directly on issues, while the conclusion describes this as "true democracy." This could be the start of a debate in a political science class (or on social media). Do citizens need to vote directly in order to have a "true democracy," or does a system where representatives make decisions still qualify? You might have your own opinion about this (and perhaps your old political science professor does, too), but as skilled LSAT test-takers, we should question whether "direct vote" and "true democracy" mean exactly the same thing. If they don't, that leaves a gap in the argument. Be on the lookout for answers that connect these two terms, and be suspicious of ones that don't.

Correct answer:
(D)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Doesn't Address Premise: Since this doesn't tell us anything about voting directly, it doesn't help connect our premise to the conclusion. In fact, you could argue that "democracy" and "true democracy" mean the same thing: if it's not a true democracy, then it's simply not a democracy. In that case, this answer just states something that we can already infer directly from the conclusion.

(B) Doesn't Address Conclusion: This answer choice mentions democratic-decision making processes, but this isn't necessarily the same as "true democracy." It doesn't help us reach the argument's conclusion.

(C) Doesn't Address Premise: Like choice (A), this doesn't specifically mention direct voting, and if you want to argue that "true democracy" and a "democratic political system" have the same meaning, choice (C) is something we can infer directly from the conclusion.

(D) Correct: So far, this is the only answer choice that connects voting directly on political decisions with true democracy. It provides the link that we need to guarantee the conclusion: if a political system is a true democracy, the voters themselves vote directly on all decisions.

(E) Doesn't Address Conclusion: this answer doesn't directly mention "true democracy," so it doesn't connect any concept to the argument's conclusion.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Many Sufficient Assumption questions involve a concept in an argument's conclusion that is related to a concept in the premise, but the two concepts aren't guaranteed to be linked. In some cases, there will only be one answer that provides any direct link between the two concepts.

#officialexplanation