Read the passage and answer the question given below: To deal with issues of…
2023
Read the passage and answer the question given below:
To deal with issues of democracy and authoritarian rules we have to pay particular attention to both the context what can be called development and to the interpretation of democracy, in particular to the respective roles of voting and public reasoning. The assessment of development cannot be divorced from the lives that people can lead and the real freedom that they enjoy. Development can scarcely be seen mere in terms of enhancement of inanimate objects of convenience, such as a rise in GNP or in personal incomes, or industrialization important as they may be as means to the real ends. Their value must depend upon what they do to the lives and freedom of the people involved, which must be central to the idea of development. If development is understood in a broader way with a focus on human lives, then it becomes immediately clear that the relation between development and democracy has to be seen partly in terms of their constitutive connection, rather than only through their external links. Even though the question has often been asked whether political freedom is 'conducive to development', we must not miss the crucial recognition that political liberties and democratic rights are among the constituent components of development. Their relevance for development does not have to be established indirectly through their contribution to the growth of GNP. However, after acknowledging this central connection, we also have to subject democracy to consequential analysis since there are other kinds of freedoms as well, other than political liberties and civil rights, to which attention must be paid. We must be concerned, for example, with economic poverty.
The interpretation of democracy depends upon
Answer: C. the exercise of franchise as linked to public reasoning — ConceptIn passage-based inference, the answer must be anchored in the author’s explicit wording and in the relationship the passage establishes between ideas.…
- A.
political convenience
- B.
issues other than development
- C.
the exercise of franchise as linked to public reasoning
- D.
development as a separate entity
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
In passage-based inference, the answer must be anchored in the author’s explicit wording and in the relationship the passage establishes between ideas. A direct paraphrase of that wording is stronger evidence than an interpretation based on an isolated term.
Application
The opening sentence says that interpreting democracy requires attention to the respective roles of voting and public reasoning. “Exercise of franchise” means using the right to vote, while “public reasoning” means collective discussion and scrutiny. The phrase that links these two ideas therefore reproduces the relationship stated in the passage.
Contrast
Political convenience makes administrative expediency the basis of interpretation, whereas the passage frames political liberty as part of human freedom and development.
Issues other than development moves the focus outside development, whereas the passage repeatedly connects democracy with a broad, human-centred idea of development.
The exercise of franchise linked to public reasoning combines the two roles named in the opening sentence.
Development as a separate entity breaks the constitutive connection that the passage draws between development and democratic rights.
Cross-check
Replacing “exercise of franchise” with “voting” gives “voting linked to public reasoning,” which matches the author’s wording and preserves both parts of the stated relationship.
Result
Thus, the interpretation of democracy depends upon the exercise of franchise as linked to public reasoning.