LSAT Question Explanation
PT 108, Section 3, Question 23
Most Strongly SupportedExplanation
This is a dense stimulus. Give it a slow second read and break it down. Here's what we know:
- A constitution offers a framework for new laws for a nation, but it was written a long time ago and must be interpreted to apply to new/modern situations.
- The interpretations include the biases/beliefs of the people currently reading the constitution, but we think of them as reflecting the beliefs of the people who wrote the constitution in the past.
- This illusion makes us think that laws are part of a long tradition rather than just what current politicians want. This apparently is vital for political stability.
Answer choices
This doesn't align with the stimulus. What it says is needed for political stability is that interpretations align with the author's intentions, causing us to think laws are part of a tradition. This just says that we think laws express the intention of political leaders.
Yes. The stimulus said it was essential for political stability that interpretations of the constitution be portrayed as aligning with the intentions of the authors. That's what makes us think laws reflect a long tradition rather than just the preferences of modern politicians.
Maybe, but we don't know. What was claimed to be necessary in the stimulus is that current interpretations of the constitution are believed to align with the author's intentions, not that current leaders agree with the constitution.
Not quite, what preserves the illusion according to the stimulus is the way that the constitution is interpreted. This just indicates that the constitution itself can preserve the illusion.
We don't know what makes political stability dependent on the interpretations seeming to align with what the authors wanted.