Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow.…
2020
Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow.
The representative dimension of the new liberal political orders designed to protect individual rights, appeared as the best mechanism for actualizing popular rule or sovereignty - indeed democracy. As a result, it is more beneficial to assess the meaning and value of 'rights' as historical and political practices, rather than conceptual forms (especially as counterparts to 'virtue'). In this respect, the discourse of rights reflected a new official mode of combining ethics and power for political conduct. But the formally equal treatment of citizens belied a relatively arbitrary element, for the involvement of the citizenry in shaping the conduct of their representatives was left to influence elite procedures, qualifications and voluntary participation. Still, representation became the mythical means of transposing the authorizing power of the people to the new authorities of government. After all, representatives had more time and money to perfect their virtue and skill in conducting their work and were not supposed to be corrupted by the power that attended their offices. They were supposed to be better guardians and agents of public virtue than ordinary citizens as representation became institutionalized in the new states. The state wielded power over the people, diversifying rather than restricting the problems of demagoguery in ancient democracy that modern republics were supposed to correct.
Ques: What was expected of public representatives?
- A.
Use power for personal gains
- B.
Behave like ordinary citizens
- C.
Become skilled in power politics
- D.
Safeguard representation of virtue
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: In a literal, fact-based reading-comprehension question, the correct option is the one an explicit sentence in the passage directly states or paraphrases. Any option that the passage explicitly contradicts, or that inserts a claim the passage never makes, must be eliminated.
Application: The passage states that representatives were given the time and resources to develop virtue and skill, were “not supposed to be corrupted by the power that attended their offices”, and “were supposed to be better guardians and agents of public virtue than ordinary citizens”. This sentence directly answers the question: representatives were expected to protect, i.e. safeguard, virtuous conduct in the exercise of political power.
Cross-check: The rest of the passage supports this reading — it goes on to note that in practice, state power “diversif[ied] rather than restrict[ed] the problems of demagoguery” that this guardianship of virtue was meant to prevent. That only makes sense if safeguarding virtue was the standard representatives were being held to in the first place, even when the standard was not met.
Weighing each option against the passage:
“Use power for personal gains” contradicts the passage directly, which states representatives were not supposed to be corrupted by the power of their office.
“Behave like ordinary citizens” reverses the passage's comparison — representatives were expected to be better than ordinary citizens, not simply behave like them.
“Become skilled in power politics” narrows the passage's general mention of developing skill in conducting one's duties into a specific “power politics” skill that the text never names.