Last visit was: 14 Jul 2025, 23:35 It is currently 14 Jul 2025, 23:35
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
asiscool
Joined: 20 Apr 2015
Last visit: 20 Oct 2024
Posts: 8
Own Kudos:
90
 [50]
Given Kudos: 39
Location: India
GMAT 1: 600 Q44 V29
GPA: 3.8
GMAT 1: 600 Q44 V29
Posts: 8
Kudos: 90
 [50]
Kudos
Add Kudos
50
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
chetan2u
User avatar
GMAT Expert
Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Last visit: 14 Jul 2025
Posts: 11,294
Own Kudos:
41,747
 [10]
Given Kudos: 333
Status:Math and DI Expert
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 11,294
Kudos: 41,747
 [10]
10
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
sayantanc2k
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Last visit: 09 Dec 2022
Posts: 2,395
Own Kudos:
15,463
 [8]
Given Kudos: 26
Location: Germany
Schools:
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V47
WE:Corporate Finance (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Expert
Expert reply
Schools:
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V47
Posts: 2,395
Kudos: 15,463
 [8]
7
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
avatar
deep14
Joined: 21 Nov 2014
Last visit: 03 May 2019
Posts: 34
Own Kudos:
42
 [1]
Given Kudos: 16
Location: India
Schools: ISB '18
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
GPA: 3.7
Schools: ISB '18
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
Posts: 34
Kudos: 42
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
asiscool
In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.

E.
B is a fact that very remotely weakens the conclusion. C and D are irrelevant. A is close but not specific enough for the given argument. It talks about any referenda, not just the ones involving constitutional ammendment
User avatar
abhishekdadarwal2009
Joined: 04 Sep 2015
Last visit: 07 Dec 2022
Posts: 530
Own Kudos:
468
 [1]
Given Kudos: 123
Location: India
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Products:
Posts: 530
Kudos: 468
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
i chose A first but realized that the choice is blunt and vague as the referenda may or may not have constitutional amendments.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
this choice also is not specific as it may be possible that ther is only one constitutional amenedment every 18months as the number of referendas are not specified.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
The comparison is out of scope
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
the age limit is also out of scope
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
correct answer by elemination
User avatar
sleepynut
Joined: 29 Oct 2016
Last visit: 18 Jul 2017
Posts: 162
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 905
Concentration: Finance, Economics
GMAT 1: 620 Q50 V24
GRE 1: Q167 V147
GMAT 1: 620 Q50 V24
GRE 1: Q167 V147
Posts: 162
Kudos: 90
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi experts,
From this question,there are several steps to establish amendments to the constitution : 1) gather 100,000 signature 2) initiate a national referendum 3)successfully vote to amend the constitution

Option E tells us that Swiss voter are familiar with referenda.Just that,how it can be interpret that the government process will be long?
User avatar
shashankism
Joined: 13 Mar 2017
Last visit: 23 Dec 2024
Posts: 611
Own Kudos:
670
 [2]
Given Kudos: 88
Affiliations: IIT Dhanbad
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GPA: 3.8
WE:Engineering (Energy)
Posts: 611
Kudos: 670
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?



P.S. : i opted for option B but now I think E has an edge over B. Otherwise option B and E are very similar.

Question Stem says that amendment to the constitution can be initiated after a successful vote on national referendum. And a referendum can be initiated by collecting 100,000 voter's signature in support of issues.
Conclusion : Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution which means A major portion of the period of Swiss government is utilized in constitution amendment. Now lets get down to options.

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
This doesn't tell whether refrenda is about constitutional amendment or not.

B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
Citizens can easily collect 100,000 signatures for constitutional amendment within 18 months which means a lot of referendum can be initiated by the citizens but citizens do it or not is not clear. If the citizens do raise a lots of referendum regarding constitutional amendment, surely it is going to take a lots of time of swiss govt. Though this is a strong contender of the correct answer, we will check other options. If there is no better option we can go for this one.

C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
It spends much more time than other countries but it is not clear that whether it spends a lots of time or not which a major portion of swiss govt. governance time.

D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
This is out of scope. Even if this is the case a lot or very less referenda may be raised.

E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
Now this is one step ahead of Option B. Option B states that people can easily raise Referenda requiring constitutional amendment. This option says that the referenda is actually raised and it is popular with swiss voters. SO this option is better and one step ahead of Option B. Hence this is the correct answer


Answer E
User avatar
AnirudhaS
User avatar
LBS Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2019
Last visit: 25 Jun 2024
Posts: 812
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1,575
Posts: 812
Kudos: 849
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Conclusion: Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.

True it may be frequent, but it still needs to have the required votes (>50%) to actually act on it and change constitution.
Same for popularity. It may very well be popular, but this does not guarantee than all voters would turn up and actually vote and thereby ask the government to actually act on it and change constitution.

So how can this strengthen the conclusion beats me...
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 14 Jul 2025
Posts: 2,950
Own Kudos:
8,398
 [1]
Given Kudos: 57
GMAT 2: 780  Q50  V50
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 2,950
Kudos: 8,398
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AnirudhaS

I think you are mistaking "strengthen" for "prove." It is extremely rare for a strengthen answer to prove the conclusion correct. All we need is for the answer to make the connection between premise and conclusion stronger and more logical. The author tells us "To get an amendment on the ballot, you just need to do X. So amendments must happen often." This requires the assumptions that those requirements are often met, and that when amendments are on the ballot, they pass. The right answer doesn't need to support both conclusions, nor does it need to prove either one correct. However, E does address both of these assumptions, telling us that a) referenda do often occur and b) voters like them. If those things are true, the conclusion seems much more likely than it would if those things were not true. That's all we need from a strengthen!
User avatar
Raman109
Joined: 17 Aug 2009
Last visit: 16 Jun 2025
Posts: 811
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 33
Products:
Posts: 811
Kudos: 143
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
­In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Meaning - 
Necessary condition - A successful vote on a national referendum is a minimum condition for an amendment to the constitution to be initiated. 
Sufficient condition - If amendment is initiated, then a successful vote on the national referendum must have been carried out. 

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

Option Elimination -

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year. - Initiating doesn't mean a successful vote. Distortion. Wrong. 

B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months. - We already know from the passage when it says "merely." Distortion. 

C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do. - out of scope. 

D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old. - Out of scope. 

E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters. - ok
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
 
asiscool
In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
­Here's my thought on this !
A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
Citizens might initiate a lot many referendas but this option does not specify if all these got 100,000 votes within 18 months. There might be only 1 that got as many votes within 18 months.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
This option just tells us that it is easy to collect 100,000 signatures but does not tell the amount of Referenda. It might be that only 1 referenda was initiated in span of 18 months. So this does not mean that Govt is working alot.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
Nonsense
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
Nonsense
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
Correct : Referenda is frequent and popular among voters. Meaning there will be referendas frequently and govt has to work no stop on it.
User avatar
RiyaJ0032
Joined: 13 Dec 2021
Last visit: 12 Jul 2025
Posts: 155
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 37
Posts: 155
Kudos: 10
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi MartyMurray!

Could you please clarify the difference b/w (A) & (E)

aren't both saying the same things?

(E) I felt could be eliminated because constitutional amendments require voting a referendum

not that referendum require amendments

if you could provide your insights!

Or any expert can, thanks!

DmitryFarber
GMATNinjaTwo
ChiranjeevSingh
KarishmaB

asiscool
In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 14 Jul 2025
Posts: 2,950
Own Kudos:
8,398
 [2]
Given Kudos: 57
GMAT 2: 780  Q50  V50
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 2,950
Kudos: 8,398
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The part about "require amendments" is the key difference. A referendum is just a vote by the people on an issue, often in an advisory capacity. We're trying to establish that the government actually spends a lot of time amending the constitution, so it's not enough to know that there are many referenda. We need to know that these referenda are proposing constitutional amendments, and that the voters approve the amendments. Answer choice A doesn't make that clear; the referenda could be about other things, and they might usually fail. E, on the other hand, makes it clear that there are many referenda that create constitutional amendments, and that these measures are popular, so that they are likely to actually be enacted.
RiyaJ0032
Hi MartyMurray!

Could you please clarify the difference b/w (A) & (E)

aren't both saying the same things?

(E) I felt could be eliminated because constitutional amendments require voting a referendum

not that referendum require amendments

if you could provide your insights!

Or any expert can, thanks!

DmitryFarber
GMATNinjaTwo
ChiranjeevSingh
KarishmaB

asiscool
In Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest nations, amendments to the constitution can only be initiated after a successful vote on a national referendum. In order to initiate a referendum, a citizen must merely collect 100,000 voters' signatures, in support of a given issue, over a period of 18 months. Clearly, the Swiss government must be spending a lot of time amending the country's constitution.

Which of the following premises, if true, best supports the conclusion above?

A. Swiss citizens initiate many referenda every year.
B. It is easy for a citizen to collect 100,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment within 18 months.
C. The Swiss government spends much more time on constitutional amendments than governments of other countries do.
D. All referenda must be initiated by Swiss citizens over 18 years old.
E. Referenda requiring constitutional amendments are both frequent and popular with Swiss voters.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7353 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts