Wong: Although all countries are better off as democracies, a transitional autocratic stage is sometimes required bef...

Skylar on May 24, 2020

@Maria-Marin, happy to help!

We are looking for an answer choice that makes a statement Wong and Tate would disagree about.

(A) "There are some countries that are better off as autocracies than as democracies."

Wong disagrees with this statement when he says, "all countries are better off as democracies." Tate agrees with this statement when he says, "some countries can better meet these needs [i.e. the simple material needs that he notes are more important than freedom] as autocracies than as democracies." Therefore, Wong and Tate would disagree, so (A) is correct.

(E) "All democracies succeed in meeting the simple material needs of people."

Wong never says anything about "simple material needs," so we cannot be sure what he thinks. Although he says that all countries are better off as democracies, he does not explain why. Tate says that "some countries can better meet these needs as autocracies than as democracies," but we don't know whether or not this means he thinks democracies could still meet the needs. Therefore, we do not have enough information to conclude what Wong and Tate think about the statement, so we cannot say that they disagree.

Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions!