Q3

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geverett
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Q3

by geverett Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:40 pm

We are asked for a title of the passage that would most completely summarize the contents passage.

Thinking back about the passage my prephrase would looking something like "I need something about how most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do so not out of intrinsic desire/motivation to bring about a more just political system, but out of the desire to hold onto political power which necessitates democratic reforms because of changing societal forces."

With this in mind I go to the answer choices:

(A) This answer choice would be more appropriate for perhaps a manual to give out to the local population to encourage them to overthrow their government. Our passage deals with the factors that necessitate authoritarian rulers to bring about democratic reforms. Get rid of it.
(B) Human rights abuses are mentioned in line 21-22, but are not representative of the core of this passage. This answer choice would be way to narrow to "most completely summarize the contents of the passage." Get rid of it.
(C) This answer choice describes something that would be a good title to hand out to democratic political dissidents in authoritarian countries, but does not get at the thrust of the passage which is factors that necessitate authoritarian rulers to bring about democratic reforms.
(D) This is exactly what we want. The initial title describes the motivation for why authoritarian regimes compromise, and the subtitle describes the three factors described in paragraph 2, 3, and 4 that help serve as the catalyst for that change.
(E) This passage talks about how economic stability initially created by authoritarian regimes can be a catalyst for democratic reforms (lines 51-56), but nowhere in the passage is it discussed about how economic instability is a growing pain in a shift towards democracy. Get rid of it.