Political scientist: As a political system, democracy does not promote political freedom. There are historical examples of democracies that ultimately resulted in some of the most oppressive societies. Likewise, there have been enlightened despotisms and oligarchies that have provided a remarkable level of political freedom to their subjects. The reasoning in the political scientist's argument is flawed because it ['fails to consider that a substantial increase in the level of political freedom might cause a society to become more democratic', 'confuses the conditions necessary for political freedom with the conditions sufficient to bring it about', 'overlooks the possibility that democracy promotes political freedom without being necessary or sufficient by itself to produce it', 'appeals to historical examples that are irrelevant to the causal claim being made']