In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a

Question

In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a certain size, the diverse and sometimes conflicting economic interests that can be found in almost any large group of people tend to surface. Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the political interest group to unite behind a common program. Yet to have the political impact necessary to influence legislation, a group must be united.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

(A) Political interest groups are generally less influential when their membership is expanding than when it is numerically stable.

(B) For a democratic society to function effectively, it is necessary for political groups within that society to make compromises with each other.

(C) Politicians can ignore with impunity the economic interests of very large groups of people.

(D) A political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible.

(E) Political interest groups generally start out effectively but lose their effectiveness over time.

MartyMurray · Answer

In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a certain size, the diverse and sometimes conflicting economic interests that can be found in almost any large group of people tend to surface. Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the political interest group to unite behind a common program. Yet to have the political impact necessary to influence legislation, a group must be united.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

The wording in the stem "most strongly support" indicates that this is Conclusion question. So, the correct answer will be the one for which there is clear support in the passage that we can point to.

(A) Political interest groups are generally less influential when their membership is expanding than when it is numerically stable.

The passage says nothing about what happens when a group's membership is "expanding."

Rather, it says what happens at a point in time "when a political interest group exceeds a certain size."

So, since "expanding" and "exceeding a certain size" are different things, this choice is not supported.

Eliminate.

(B) For a democratic society to function effectively, it is necessary for political groups within that society to make compromises with each other.

The passage doesn't say anything about multiple "groups" compromising.

Rather, the information is all about what occurs when one "group" exceeds a certain size and consequently cannot unite behind a common program.

Eliminate.

(C) Politicians can ignore with impunity the economic interests of very large groups of people.

The passage doesn't say anything that indicates that politicians can completely "ignore" the economic interests of "very large groups" in general.

Rather, the point is that, when political interest groups in particular exceed a certain size, they cannot "influence legislation."

Eliminate.

(D) A political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible.

This choice follows logically from what the passage says.

After all, if it's true that "when a political interest group exceeds a certain size, ... conflicting economic interests ... surface," that "Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the ... group to unite," and that ''to influence legislation, a group must be united," then it makes sense that "A political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible."

After all, "expanding to include as wide a membership as possible" could result in a group's "exceeding a certain size" and thus becoming unable to "unite behind a common program."

Thus, this choice is clearly supported by information in the passage that we can point to.

Keep.

(E) Political interest groups generally start out effectively but lose their effectiveness over time.

The passage does not indicate what happens to political interest groups "generally" "over time."

Rather, the information provided indicates what happens in specific cases in which "a political interest group exceeds a certain size."

So, this choice is not supported.

Eliminate.

Correct answer:   D

guddo · Answer

In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a certain size, the diverse and sometimes conflicting economic interests that can be found in almost any large group of people tend to surface. Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the political interest group to unite behind a common program. Yet to have the political impact necessary to influence legislation, a group must be united.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views?

The passage says that when a political interest group becomes too large, internal economic conflicts may appear. If those conflicts prevent unity, the group cannot effectively influence legislation.  So bigger membership can make a group weaker  if it destroys the unity needed for political impact.

(A) Political interest groups are generally less influential when their membership is expanding than when it is numerically stable.

Too broad. The passage does not say expanding groups are generally less influential. It says a group can lose unity after it exceeds a certain size.

(B) For a democratic society to function effectively, it is necessary for political groups within that society to make compromises with each other.

Wrong. The passage is about unity within a political interest group, not compromise between different groups.

(C) Politicians can ignore with impunity the economic interests of very large groups of people.

Wrong. The passage says large groups may become divided, but it does not say politicians can safely ignore them.

(D) A political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible.

Correct. If expansion makes the group too large and internally divided, it may become unable to unite behind a common program. Since unity is necessary for influence, the group can become  politically ineffective  through overexpansion.

(E) Political interest groups generally start out effectively but lose their effectiveness over time.

Wrong. The passage is about size and internal conflict, not about a general decline over time.

Answer: (D)

yc168 · Answer

OE for reference:

Overview:  
The passage tells us that political interest groups will not be able to influence legislation if they are not united behind a common program. It also tells us that achieving such unity can be impossible when conflicting interests surface in a political interest group. It further tells us that when groups get too large, conflicting interests tend to surface.

The Correct Answer:

D  The passage indicates that conflicting interests tend to surface in a political interest group when the group becomes too large. So if a political interest group expands to include as wide a membership as possible, the group could become so large that conflicting interests arise. These conflicting interests, according to the passage, can render the political interest group ineffective. Therefore, the expansion of a political interest group to include as wide a membership as possible can render the group ineffective. (D) is thus supported by the passage.

The Incorrect Answer Choices:

A  The passage tells us that large size can make a political interest group unable to influence legislation. It is only the size of the group, however, rather than how the size is changing, that is mentioned in the passage. So the passage indicates that a large political interest group can, as a result of the group's size, lack influence. But the passage gives no indication that a group with a small but expanding membership would, as a result of the group's expanding membership, lack influence. (A) is thus not supported by the passage.

B  The passage does not consider what it takes for a democratic society to function effectively, nor does it consider how political interest groups need to interact with one another to that end. What the passage says about loss of effectiveness applies to political interest groups, not to society as a whole. So the passage does not support the view expressed in (B).

C  The passage deals solely with people who have organized themselves into political interest groups, and it does not say whether a political interest group that is too large to be influential is necessarily a very large group of people. Moreover, even though the passage talks about cases in which some large political interest groups fail to influence politicians, it does not say that the politicians can ignore the interests of people in those groups with impunity.

E  The passage discusses one way in which political interest groups can lose their effectiveness. But it does not connect this loss of effectiveness to the passage of time, so (E) is not supported.

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

Premises  
1. In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a certain size, the diverse and sometimes conflicting economic interests that can be found in almost any large group of people tend to surface
2. Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the political interest group to unite behind a common program.
3. Yet to have the political impact necessary to influence legislation, a group must be united.

The passage lacks a conclusion; we need to grasp the main idea that the author want to convey us when writing his premises. We need to ask ourselves: where does the author of the passage want to lead us?

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following views? ( this is the question stem for CONCLUSION)

(A) Political interest groups are generally less influential when their membership is expanding than when it is numerically stable. 
 Wrong:  expanding doesn’t mean exceeding. So, we don’t have support for this.

(B) For a democratic society to function effectively, it is necessary for political groups within that society to make compromises with each other.
 Wrong:  The passage doesn't say anything about several political groups compromising.
instead, we are given information on one "group" that exceeds a certain size and consequently cannot unite behind a common program.

(C) Politicians can ignore with impunity the economic interests of very large groups of people.
 Wrong:  we just know “when political interest groups in particular exceed a certain size, they cannot "influence legislation." We cannot conclude anything about politicians‘s doing.

(D) A political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible.
 Correct:  this answer wraps up the logic of the author. We know that +++size brings to conflicting intests; Once these conflicting interests have surfaced, they can make it impossible for the political interest group to unite behind a common program. Yet to have the political impact necessary to influence legislation, a group must be united. It follows that expanding to include as wide a membership as possible could result in a group's exceeding a certain size, and then in conflict interests emergence, that make it impossible for the group to unite behind a common program. The group must be united to sway an impact necessary to influence legislation. We know that they are not united, so we can conclude that a political interest group can become ineffective by expanding to include as wide a membership as possible because from the text we understand that it will not have such impact.

(E) Political interest groups generally start out effectively but lose their effectiveness over time.
 Wrong:  start to finish and then temporality is not mentioned.

In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a

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In a democratic society, when a political interest group exceeds a

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