Pundit: People complain about how ineffectual their legislative representatives are, but this apparent ineffectual...

Ravi on May 7, 2019

@Shiyi-Zhang,

Great question. Let's look at (D) and (A).

We're looking for the answer choice that explains why the pundit's
argument is flawed.

(D) says, "legislative compromise inevitably results in popular
dissatisfaction with politicians"

While this is in the argument, it isn't a flaw of the argument.
Diagramming the argument, we have

Competing - >Compromise - >Ineffective - >Dissatisfied

Diagramming the stimulus, we see that (D) is true, so it's not a flaw
of the argument.

(A) says, "the apparent ineffectuality of legislative representatives
is the only source of popular dissatisfaction with those
representatives"

It's true that ineffectuality is a large source of dissatisfaction
(meaning ineffectuality is sufficient for causing dissatisfaction),
but it isn't the only source/cause of dissatisfaction (the necessary
condition). There could be all sorts of other causes for
dissatisfaction. The pundit is mixing up the sufficient for the
necessary condition, and this is exactly the flaw that (A) picks up
on, making it the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!