Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Political parties are highly visible because they contest elections, form governments, shape public opinion, and provide people access to government welfare schemes. Citizens interact with them constantly during elections and local governance.

However, visibility breeds criticism, not trust. Citizens experience parties as partisan — they represent only a section of society and divide people along social lines. Key challenges further erode trust: lack of internal democracy, dynastic succession, money and muscle power in elections, and little meaningful policy difference between parties. These flaws make parties appear self-serving rather than public-serving.

Thus, people feel close to parties for practical access but do not trust them, as parties are seen as the root cause of corruption and divisions in democracy.

Source: Chapter 4 — Why do we need political parties?, Challenges to political parties

---

• The examiner wants you to link visibility to its cause (functions parties perform) and then contrast it with low trust (challenges/flaws).
• Three key points to hit: (1) parties are visible due to their functions, (2) but citizens experience partisanship, corruption, dynastic politics — eroding trust, (3) the textbook distinction between feeling "close to a party" vs. "trusting" a party is crucial evidence here.
• Avoid writing a general essay; ground every claim in textbook content (functions list + challenges list).