Whenever a Major Political Scandal Erupts Before an Election and Voters Blame the Scandal on all Parties.

Question: Whenever a major political scandal erupts before an election and voters blame the scandal on all parties about equally, virtually all incumbents, from whatever party, seeking reelection are returned to office. However, when voters blame such a scandal on only one party, incumbents from that party are likely to be defeated by challengers from other parties. The proportion of incumbents who seek reelection is high and remarkably constant from election to election.

If the voters’ reactions are guided by a principle, which one of the following principles would best account for the contrast in reactions described above?

(A) Whenever one incumbent is responsible for one major political scandal and another incumbent is responsible for another, the consequences for the two incumbents should be the same.
(B) When a major political scandal is blamed on incumbents from all parties, that judgment is more accurate than any judgment that incumbents from only on party are to blame.
(C) Incumbents who are rightly blamed for a major political scandal should not seek reelection, but if they do, they should not be returned to office.
(D) Major political scandals can practically always be blamed on incumbents, but whether those incumbents should be voted out of office depends on who their challengers are.
(E) When major political scandals are less the responsibility of individual incumbents than of the parties to which they belong, whatever party was responsible must be penalized when possible

“Whenever a Major Political Scandal Erupts Before an Election and Voters Blame the Scandal on all Parties.” – is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘GMAT Prep Plus’. In this particular topic, candidates need to choose the option that best suits the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument.  The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: B
Solution and Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument. Let's go through the assumptions that suit the most with the given argument:

1. The argument in the passage does not discuss how the voters would react if one incumbent were responsible for one major scandal and another incumbent was responsible for another. Choice (A) can be eliminated.
2. We are looking for a principle that accounts for the contrast in the voters' reactions (scenario 1 vs scenario 2), and we don't care whether the judgment on which one reaction is based is more accurate than the judgment on which the other is based. Choice (B) can be eliminated.
3. First, the passage does not consider whether incumbents blamed for a major political scandal should or should not seek reelection. Second, choice (C) only explains the voters' reaction in scenario 2 and does NOT explain the contrast in those reactions. Choice (C) can be eliminated.
4. This statement does not align with the information in the passage. According to the passage, if incumbents (and hence their parties) are blamed for a pre-election scandal, those incumbents will most likely lose the election, regardless of "who their challengers are." Choice (D) can be eliminated.
5. There is no way to penalize all parties equally since a member of one of the parties has to win. In that case, the voters might just stick with the default option (the incumbent). Thus, choice (E) is the best choice.

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