Question
S1: Absolutism, which was particularly widespread during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, is a governmental system involving unlimited authority vested in a monarch or dictator. S2: King Louis XIV (1643-1715) of France captured the essence of absolutism when he said, “I am the state.” S3: Many absolutist monarchs sought to provide justification for their absolute power by using the doctrine of the “divine right of kings” and broadened their power by becoming heads of church as well as state. S4: Additionally, influential political and philosophical theorists, including Thomas Hobbes, have argued that unquestioned obedience to a single will is necessary to maintain order and security.
S5: Absolutism stands in stark contrast to constitutionalism, in which a written constitution defines legal limitations on government, a measure that serves to reduce the risk of rulers’ pursuing their own interests at the expense of those of the ruled. S6: Whereas absolutism allows the monarch to make arbitrary judgments in any situation, under constitutionalism, no one is above the rule of law: judges make decisions based on prewritten laws as well as the precedent of earlier judgments. S7: John Locke, an influential political theorist who supported this foundational principle of constitutionalism, argued that “wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” S8: Additionally, unlike absolutism, constitutionalism limits the dominance of a state’s leader by requiring a balance of powers; although abuses of power can still sometimes occur, no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement of at least one other individual or body, such as the legislative or judiciary branch of government.
It can be inferred from the passage that a government following the principles of constitutionalism would be less likely to experience abuse of power by a leader than an absolutist government would because constitutionalism is
more likely to receive support from influential political theorists
less likely to put emphasis on order and security
less likely to permit rule without agreement
more likely to have a judiciary branch of government
more likely to have separation between church and state
Question
S1: Absolutism, which was particularly widespread during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, is a governmental system involving unlimited authority vested in a monarch or dictator. S2: King Louis XIV (1643-1715) of France captured the essence of absolutism when he said, “I am the state.” S3: Many absolutist monarchs sought to provide justification for their absolute power by using the doctrine of the “divine right of kings” and broadened their power by becoming heads of church as well as state. S4: Additionally, influential political and philosophical theorists, including Thomas Hobbes, have argued that unquestioned obedience to a single will is necessary to maintain order and security.
S5: Absolutism stands in stark contrast to constitutionalism, in which a written constitution defines legal limitations on government, a measure that serves to reduce the risk of rulers’ pursuing their own interests at the expense of those of the ruled. S6: Whereas absolutism allows the monarch to make arbitrary judgments in any situation, under constitutionalism, no one is above the rule of law: judges make decisions based on prewritten laws as well as the precedent of earlier judgments. S7: John Locke, an influential political theorist who supported this foundational principle of constitutionalism, argued that “wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” S8: Additionally, unlike absolutism, constitutionalism limits the dominance of a state’s leader by requiring a balance of powers; although abuses of power can still sometimes occur, no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement of at least one other individual or body, such as the legislative or judiciary branch of government.
It can be inferred from the passage that a government following the principles of constitutionalism would be less likely to experience abuse of power by a leader than an absolutist government would because constitutionalism is
more likely to receive support from influential political theorists
less likely to put emphasis on order and security
less likely to permit rule without agreement
more likely to have a judiciary branch of government
more likely to have separation between church and state
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and Expert GMAT Focus Instructor
Solution:
Each of the answer choices in this question expresses a comparison. However, most of the choices are incorrect because the comparisons they express are not supported by the passage.
It would be easy to believe that the comparisons the incorrect choices express are supported by the passage if we were simply to go with our impressions. So, to avoid choosing a Wrong Comparison choice we have to be careful to notice exactly what the passage says and doesn’t say.
(A) more likely to receive support from influential political theorists
Trap: Wrong Comparison
The passage does indicate, in S4, that political theorists have supported absolutism and, in S7, that the political theorist John Locke supported constitutionalism. However, the passage does not indicate how likely it is that political theorists support either of the two forms of government. So, the passage provides no basis for the comparison expressed by this choice.
Furthermore, even if the passage did support this choice, this choice still wouldn’t correctly answer the question, because the passage does not indicate that support from political theorists causes a government to be “less likely to experience abuse of power by a leader.”
(B) less likely to put emphasis on order and security
Trap: Wrong Comparison
If you chose this choice, you may have noticed that S4 says in connection with absolutism, “Additionally, influential political and philosophical theorists … have argued that unquestioned obedience to a single will is necessary to maintain order and security.” So, the passage does make a connection between absolutism and “order and security.”
Notice, however, that the comparison expressed by this choice is not supported, because the passage does not say how likely it is that a constitutionalist government or an absolutist government puts emphasis on order and security. So, the passage provides no basis for a comparison of the likelihood that a constitutionalist government puts emphasis on order and security with the likelihood that an absolutist government does.
CORRECT ANSWER(C) less likely to permit rule without agreement
Scanning the passage for “rule without agreement,” we see that S8 says, “unlike absolutism, constitutionalism limits the dominance of a state’s leader by requiring a balance of powers; although abuses of power can still sometimes occur, no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement of at least one other individual or body.”
So, we can see that the passage indicates that constitutionalism is “unlike absolutism” in that, under constitutionalism “no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement of at least one other individual or body.” So, the comparison expressed by this choice, “constitutionalism is less likely to permit rule without agreement,” is supported by the passage.
Also, by saying, “constitutionalism limits the dominance of a state’s leader by requiring a balance of powers; although abuses of power can still sometimes occur, no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement …,” the passage implies that the likelihood that abuses of power will occur is reduced under constitutionalism because “no one is legally permitted to rule without … agreement.”
So, this choice both is supported by the passage and answers the question by explaining why “a government following the principles of constitutionalism would be less likely to experience abuse of power by a leader than an absolutist government would.”
(D) more likely to have a judiciary branch of government
Trap: Wrong Comparison
If you chose this choice, you may have noticed that S8 says of constitutionalism, “no one is legally permitted to rule without the agreement of at least one other individual or body, such as the … judiciary branch of government.” So, the passage indicates that a constitutionalist government may have a judiciary branch.
Notice, however, that the comparison expressed by this choice is not supported, because the passage does not say how likely it is that an absolutist government has a judiciary branch. So, the passage does not provide a basis for a comparison of the likelihood that a constitutionalist government has a judiciary branch with the likelihood that an absolutist government does.
You may have gotten the impression that the passage indicates that an absolutist government is unlikely to have a judiciary branch, but the passage doesn’t do so.
We have to be careful to base our choices on what the passage actually says rather than go with our impressions.
(E) more likely to have separation between church and state
Trap: Wrong Comparison
If you chose this choice, you may have noticed that S3 says of absolutism, “Many absolutist monarchs … broadened their power by becoming heads of church as well as state.” So, the passage indicates that an absolutist government may not have separation between church and state.
Notice, however, that the comparison expressed by this choice is not supported, because the passage does not say how likely it is that a constitutionalist government has separation between church and state. So, the passage does not provide a basis for a comparison of the likelihood that a constitutionalist government has separation between church and state with the likelihood that an absolutist government does.
