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mSKR
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 20 Jul 2020, 06:14
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Switzerland and the United States diverged in the degree to which the expansion of industry coincide with the degree of urbanization: only 29 percent of the Swiss population lived in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants by 1920.
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Quote:
"Industrialization was well advanced in both countries by 1920: over 33 percent of American workers were employed in various industries, as compared to 44 percent of Swiss workers. "
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so the conclusion is : A greater percentage of the United States population than the Swiss population lived in urban areas BUT FEWER EMPLOYED in VARIOUS INDUSTRIES

Many Swiss citizens might be commuting into cities everyday to urban cities ( 10,000 or more) from smaller cities
OR
There could be industries in small cities also.

Am i right?
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 20 Jul 2020, 07:23
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mimishyu
I’m quite perplexed about the end of this passage
In the end of this passage, the author mentions that “Switzerland’s urbanized cantons” can offer a plausible explanation for why“was women’s suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970’s”
But what is its logic??
is it that besides “industrialization and urbanization”, these urbanized cantons obstruct Switzerland’s instituted suffrage process for women to participatory democracy???
Show more

Hi,

Let me try to address your query.

It is not correct to state that Switzerland's ubranized cantons offer a plausible explanation for women's suffrage institution in the country. Let us examine the last few sentences to glean the meaning intended by the passage.

Firstly, the passage states: However, urbanization cannot fully explain women's suffrage.

So with this, the passage is rejecting urbanization alone as a causal factor for institution of women's suffrage. It then goes on to offer some plausible alternatives:

It is true that Switzerland urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women's suffrage legislation earlier than did rural cantons.

Ok, here, it appears, at first glance, that urbanization had something to do with women's suffrage. However, this has already been ruled out earlier as a causal factor. This is reiterated by the very first word of the next sentence, which provides the alternatives:

However, these cantons often shared other characteristics—similar linguistic background and strong leftist parties—that may help to explain this phenomenon.

Now, it becomes clearer. It is not urbanization by itself that results in women's suffrage. The urban cantons of Switzerland had other things in common (apart from being urban, ie) viz; "zimilar linguistic background" and "strong leftist parties". Therefore, the passage is hinting that it was probably these factors which lead to women's suffrage being institutionalized, and not urbanization.

Hope this hels.
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i Updated on: 12 Sep 2020, 21:10
Originally posted by mSKR on 20 Jul 2020, 09:13.
Last edited by mSKR on 12 Sep 2020, 21:10, edited 1 time in total.
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Quote:
Switzerland and the United States diverged in the degree to which the expansion of industry coincide with the degree of urbanization: only 29 percent of the Swiss population lived in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants by 1920.

Quote:
"Industrialization was well advanced in both countries by 1920: over 33 percent of American workers were employed in various industries, as compared to 44 percent of Swiss workers. "

Show more
so the conclusion is : A greater percentage of the United States population than the Swiss population lived in urban areas BUT FEWER EMPLOYED in VARIOUS INDUSTRIES

Many Swiss citizens might be commuting into cities everyday to urban cities ( 10,000 or more) from smaller cities
OR
There could be industries in small cities also.

Am i right?
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 12 Sep 2020, 20:29
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mimishyu
I’m quite perplexed about the end of this passage
In the end of this passage, the author mentions that “Switzerland’s urbanized cantons” can offer a plausible explanation for why“was women’s suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970’s”
But what is its logic??
is it that besides “industrialization and urbanization”, these urbanized cantons obstruct Switzerland’s instituted suffrage process for women to participatory democracy???
Show more

In the last paragraph, the author acknowledges a divergent observation. Earlier the author had argued that despite the similarities between the U.S. and Switzerland in terms of industrialization, the two countries diverged when it came to the issue of granting women suffrage. The author also acknowledges that these two countries differed in terms of the percentage of the populations that lived in urban areas, but then states that urbanization cannot fully explain the differences in women's suffrage.

The point of the last paragraph is to acknowledge that despite the author's observations above, Switzerland did have certain areas that granted women's suffrage. These areas were the "urbanized cantons". The author points out that these areas had other shared differences, such as similar linguistic background and strong leftist parties, that could have explained why these areas granted women's suffrage ahead of the rural cantons. The last point of the paragraph is needed because it shows that the author is careful to note diverging observations that may run counter to the theory presented by the author.
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 13 Sep 2021, 23:44
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VeritasKarishma CrackverbalGMAT - Please review my understanding of the passage and correct if in case it's not correct -
In entire passage, author is saying that economic development theory can't explain implementation of women's suffrage and mentions some examples to support his statement -

Below the examples -
1. Even though US and Switzerland were urbanized in 1920, suffrage was not implemented until 1970 in Switzerland; whereas, it was implemented in US in 1920.
2. Even though US and Switzerland were urbanized, only 29% of the Swiss population lived in cities whereas more than 29% of the US population lived in cities.

Queries - Can you please help in breaking below sentence from sentence correction perspective especially bold part ?
only 29 percent of the Swiss population lived in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants by 1920

3. Prior to 1920, less urbanized states granted suffrage compared to more urbanized states
4. Another example of less urbanized countries
5. Another example of urbanized cantons.
I need your help in breaking below sentence from sentence correction perspective as i unable to break it down -

It is true that Switzerland’s urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women’s suffrage legislation earlier
than did rural cantons. However, these cantons often shared other characteristics—similar linguistic backgrounds and strong leftist parties—that may help to explain this phenomenon.

My understanding - Swiss urbanized cantons is compared with Swiss rural cantons and it's mentioned that swiss urbanized cantons shared other characteristics compared to rural cantons and thus explains enactment of suffrage in swiss urbanized cantons compared to Swiss rural cantons.

Please do share your insights.

Thanks.
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 14 Sep 2021, 21:58
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keirin79
Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly industrialization and urbanization, contributes to the growth of participatory democracy; according to this theory, it would seem logical that women would both demand and gain suffrage in ever greater numbers whenever economic development expanded their economic opportunities. However, the economic development theory is inadequate to explain certain historical facts about the implementation of women's suffrage. For example, why was women's suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970's? Industrialization was well advanced in both countries by 1920: over 33 percent of American workers were employed in various industries, as compared to 44 percent of Swiss workers. Granted, Switzerland and the United States diverged in the degree to which the expansion of industry coincide with the degree of urbanization: only 29 percent of the Swiss population lived in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants by 1920. However, urbanization cannot fully explain women's suffrage. Within the United States prior to 1920, for example, only less urbanized states had granted women suffrage. Similarly, less urbanized countries such as Cambodia and Ghana had voting rights for women long before Switzerland did. It is true that Switzerland urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women's suffrage legislation earlier than did rural cantons. However, these cantons often shared other characteristics—similar linguistic background and strong leftist parties—that may help to explain this phenomenon.

Show Spoiler
C
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. contrast two explanations for the implementation of women's suffrage
B. demonstrate that one factor contributes more than another factor to the implementation of women's suffrage
C. discuss the applicability of a theory for explaining the implementation of women's suffrage
D. clarify certain assumptions underlying a particular theory about the implementation of women's suffrage
E. explain how a particular historical occurrence was causally connected to the implementation of women's suffrage


Show Spoiler
A
2. The passage states which of the following about Switzerland's urbanized cantons?

A. These cantons shared characteristics other than urbanization that may have contributed to their implementation of women's suffrage.
B. These cantons tended to be more politically divided than were rural cantons.
C. These cantons shared with certain rural cantons characteristics such as similar linguistic backgrounds and strong leftist parties.
D. The populations of these cantons shared similar views because urbanization furthered the diffusion of ideas among them.
E. These cantons were comparable to the most highly urbanized states in the United States in their stance toward the implementation of women's suffrage.


Show Spoiler
E

3. The passage suggests which of the following about urbanization in Switzerland and the United States by 1920?

A. A greater percentage of Swiss industrial workers than American industrial workers lived in urban areas.
B. There were more cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants in Switzerland than there were in the United States.
C. Swiss workers living in urban areas were more likely to be employed in industry than were American workers living in urban areas.
D. Urbanized areas of Switzerland were more likely than similar areas in the United States to have strong leftist parties.
E. A greater percentage of the United States population than the Swiss population lived in urban areas.

4. The passage suggests which of the following about states in the United States prior to 1920?

A. The states that were not highly urbanized were slow to grant women's suffrage.
B. The states that were highly urbanized were the most influential in determining national policies regarding suffrage.
C. The most highly urbanized states were more likely to have strong leftist parties.
D. The most highly urbanized states were not necessarily the most industrialized ones.
E. The most highly urbanized states had not yet granted women's suffrage.
Show Spoiler
E

5. According to the passage, the scholars mentioned in the highlighted text assert which of the following about the growth of participatory democracy within a particular nation?

A. It is not necessarily correlated with increasing income and opportunities for women in that nation.
B. It is not necessarily related to the implementation of women's suffrage within that nation.
C. It cannot adequately explain the nation's level of economic development.
D. It tends to be encouraged by the occurrence of industrialization in that nation.
E. It is to increase with the growth of leftist parties in that nation.

Show more

The main idea of the passage is this:

The economic development theory is inadequate to explain certain historical facts about the implementation of women's suffrage.
Neither Industrialisation nor urbanisation (under economic development theory) fully explain why women's suffrage (voting rights) was implemented in different countries/counties etc when they were.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. contrast two explanations for the implementation of women's suffrage
B. demonstrate that one factor contributes more than another factor to the implementation of women's suffrage

C. discuss the applicability of a theory for explaining the implementation of women's suffrage
The theory is economic development theory and the passage discusses how it is inadequate in it explanation of implementation of women's suffrage.

D. clarify certain assumptions underlying a particular theory about the implementation of women's suffrage
E. explain how a particular historical occurrence was causally connected to the implementation of women's suffrage

Answer (C)
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 06 May 2022, 09:58
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I also find it hard to understand the passage as a whole.

The main question to be answered in the passage is this:
"why was women's suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970s?".
In other words, WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW?


Then the author argues that:
- Industrialization can't explain this (because Industrialization in US and SW is equally advanced)
- Urbanization can't explain this either (SW being less urbanized than US (or US being more urbanized) does not answer why WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW, because, in fact, UNURBANIZED US states gave women suffrage. In other words, we would expect that SW with low urbanization would give women suffrage EARLIER as US with unurbanized states did.)

Then, the author says that there is an explanation WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW:
- It is true that Switzerland's urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women's suffrage legislation earlier than did rural cantons. However, these cantons often shared other characteristics???similar linguistic backgrounds and strong leftist parties???that may help to explain this phenomenon.

MY question is: How does this explanation correlate with WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW?
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 13 May 2022, 12:34
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custodio
I also find it hard to understand the passage as a whole.

The main question to be answered in the passage is this:
"why was women's suffrage, instituted nationally in the United States in 1920, not instituted nationally in Switzerland until the 1970s?".
In other words, WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW?


Then the author argues that:
- Industrialization can't explain this (because Industrialization in US and SW is equally advanced)
- Urbanization can't explain this either (SW being less urbanized than US (or US being more urbanized) does not answer why WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW, because, in fact, UNURBANIZED US states gave women suffrage. In other words, we would expect that SW with low urbanization would give women suffrage EARLIER as US with unurbanized states did.)

Then, the author says that there is an explanation WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW:
- It is true that Switzerland's urbanized cantons (political subdivisions) generally enacted women's suffrage legislation earlier than did rural cantons. However, these cantons often shared other characteristics???similar linguistic backgrounds and strong leftist parties???that may help to explain this phenomenon.

MY question is: How does this explanation correlate with WHY WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE WAS TOO LATE IN SW?
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Based on the first sentence of the passage, we'd expect that women would have gained suffrage "in ever greater numbers" wherever economic development occurred. However, the author believes that the economic development theory doesn't fully explain the historical facts:

Quote:
However, the economic development theory is inadequate to explain certain historical facts about the implementation of women's suffrage.
Show more
This is the author's main idea.

To defend this idea, the author then compares women's suffrage in Switzerland and the United States. In other words, the discussion of Switzerland and the United States is merely an example to support the main idea. Later on, the author argues that urbanization "cannot fully explain women's suffrage." To defend this point, the author points out that "only less urbanized states had granted women's suffrage" in the U.S.

Later still, the author admits that Switzerland's urbanized cantons "generally enacted legislation earlier than did rural cantons." Notice that this would appear to contradict the main idea of the passage. To defend the main idea, the author then presents an alternative explanation. More specifically, the author tells us that the urbanized cantons "shared other characteristics -- similar linguistic background and strong leftists parties -- that may help to explain this phenomenon."

Overall, the author is trying to support the idea that economic development theory doesn't fully explain the history of women's suffrage. In developing this argument, the author admits that urbanized cantons in Switzerland granted suffrage earlier than rural cantons, which would appear to weaken the main idea. Yet according to the author, these cantons didn't grant suffrage first BECAUSE they were more urbanized. Instead, it was because they "shared other characteristics," such as linguistic background and strong leftist politics.

This explanation supports the author's main idea that the economic development theory is inadequate.

I hope that helps!
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 07 Apr 2023, 01:30
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How to solve such passage if one does not know the meaning of word " SUFFRAGE "
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 11 May 2023, 12:28
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How to solve such passage if one does not know the meaning of word " SUFFRAGE "
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When you don't know a particular word in a passage, you can try to use context clues to try to figure out what it means. To pick up those clues about the word "suffrage," start with the first couple of lines of the passage:

    "Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly industrialization and urbanization, contributes to the growth of participatory democracy."

Here, we're given a theory that one things contributes to, or causes, another. Specifically, economic development causes the growth of participatory democracy. What is "participatory democracy"? Well, it is all the ways in which people can participate in democratic processes: voting, running for office, that kind of thing.

Then look at the second half of that sentence:

    "According to this theory, it would seem logical that women would both demand and gain suffrage in ever greater numbers whenever economic development expanded their economic opportunities."

In the first bit, we learned the theory that economic development causes an increase in participatory democracy. So, if economic development expanded opportunities for women, what might they demand and gain? Well, it makes sense that they'd demand and gain the ability to participate in democracy. So, "suffrage" must be one of those activities listed above -- voting, running for office, etc.

"Suffrage" means the right to vote. While you might not be able to come up with that specific definition based on context, you can at least get in the ballpark by picking apart the clues in the rest of the sentence.

One note: before getting too worked up about knowing a particular word, you want to assess how important it is to the meaning of the passage overall. In this passage, "suffrage" is super important, so it's worth your time to try to puzzle it out. That might not be the case in other contexts -- sometimes you may be able to understand the passage even if you don't know every single word on the page.

I hope that helps!
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Many scholars have theorized that economic development, particularly i 09 Oct 2024, 05:27
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