Question 78·Hard·Command of Evidence
In public debates about judicial review, the same court decision can be defended or criticized depending on which feature of the power is emphasized. To test how this framing shapes public support, political scientists Elena Ramos and David Liao surveyed 600 U.S. adults who identified as Democrats or Republicans. Each respondent read a brief description of a court striking down a state law; the description characterized the court’s action in one of three ways: as protecting constitutional rights, as checking executive overreach, or as allowing unelected judges to overturn laws passed by elected legislators. Respondents then indicated whether courts should have more power to invalidate laws.
The results suggest that support for judicial review depends not only on party identification but also on which justification for the power is made most noticeable: ______.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the text?
For command-of-evidence questions that require using a graph to complete a claim, first restate what the sentence before the blank is asserting (here, that both party and framing matter). Then read the graph in the same structure: compare categories within each group to find the highest and lowest values, and check whether the pattern is the same across groups. Finally, choose the option that reports the critical comparisons without adding a stronger conclusion than the data supports.
Hints
Compare within each party first
Look for the tallest bar among Democrats, then the tallest bar among Republicans. Are they the same framing?
Then check the lowest-support framing
Find the shortest bar for each party. Do both parties share the same lowest category?
Make sure the choice reflects both ideas
The best option should show both a party difference and a framing effect, not just one or the other.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the blank must show
The sentence before the blank claims the results show an interaction: support depends on party and also on which justification is emphasized. So the best completion should compare (1) Democrats vs. Republicans and (2) the three framings.
Read the highest-support framing within each party
From the graph, Democrats’ highest support is for protecting constitutional rights (78%), while Republicans’ highest support is for checking executive overreach (74%).
Confirm the shared low point
Both parties show their lowest support when the court is described as “allowing unelected judges to overturn laws” (52% for Democrats and 55% for Republicans).
Match the choice that states all of these comparisons
Only one option captures the different “highest” framings by party and the lower support for both parties under the “unelected judges” description: support was highest among Democrats when judicial review was described as protecting constitutional rights (78%), while Republicans were most supportive when it was described as checking executive overreach (74%); both groups were less supportive under the “unelected judges” description (52% for Democrats and 55% for Republicans)