Question

It can be inferred from the passage that Dahl assumes which one of the following in his defense of polyarchies?

• A. Polyarchies are limited in the extent to which they can embody the idea of democracy.
• B. The structure of polyarchical governments is free of hierarchical ordering.
• C. The citizens of a polyarchy have equal access to the resources that provide political influence.
• D. Polyarchy is the best political system to foster the growth of democracy.（A）

Answer 1

The correct option is A

Polyarchies are limited in the extent to which they can embody the idea of democracy.

Look at these lines from the last paragraph -
“Although he regrets that some Western intellectuals demand more democracy from polyarchies than is possible, and is cautious about the possibility of further democratization”
Dahl states that polyarchy can provide democracy to a certain extent only.
Option (a) is true.
Since Option (a) is true option (d) has to be false.
Look at these lines from the second paragraph -
“As a representative system in which elected officials both determine government policy and are accountable to a broad-based electorate, polyarchy reinforces a diffusion of power away from any single center and towards a variety of individuals, groups, and organizations.”
Dahl states that power has moved from a single centre to a variety of individuals, groups and organization. It does not mean that hierarchy is not there. Instead of a single center of power we have multiple centers of power.
So option (b) is not true.
Option (c) is negated by this passage in these lines of the third paragraph -
“They argued that the distribution of power resources other than the vote was so uneven that the political order systematically gave added weight to those who were already richer or organizationally more powerful”.

Option (a) is the correct answer.