LSAT 158 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q23

LR Question 23 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: According to rational-choice theory, popular support for…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

FACTS:

1. Rational-choice theory says that support for various political parties is because individual voters make decisions to support the party that gives them the greatest economic advantages.
2. Rational-choice theory is opposed by many sociologists who argue that a complex phenomenon cannot be caused by a simple phenomenon (in this case, the rise of a political organization cannot be explained by individuals voting in their own best interests).

ANALYSIS: Not a lot of facts here. The question is asking us what “many sociologists believe”, so we know what to focus on.

We know that many sociologists believe that complex phenomena cannot be caused by a simple phenomena. We also know they apply this belief to oppose rational-choice theory (fact 2), which tells us two things:

1. Many sociologists believe that the rise of a political organization is a complex phenomenon.
2. Many sociologists believe that voters acting in their own best interests is a simple phenomenon.

___________

1. CORRECT. We know from inference 2 in the analysis section that many sociologists believe that voters acting in their own best interests is a simple phenomenon.
2. We don’t know this. We know that they believe a complex phenomenon cannot have a simple cause. But it could be one complex cause.
3. This is way outside what we know. The types of causes are beyond the scope, apart from simple/complex causes.
4. We know that many sociologists believe that the rise of a political organization is a complex phenomenon, and that is popular support for political parties. So they do think popular support for political parties can be a complex phenomenon.
5. We don’t know whether they believe this. It’s possible that they believe that voters’ decisions are influenced by their own economic interests, but just don’t think that this explains the rise of political organizations.

Recap: The question begins with “According to rational-choice theory, popular support for”. It is a Must be True question. Learn how to master LSAT MBT questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.