Q1. [3] medium initial-understanding
How does the growing role of money and muscle power in elections affect political parties in a democracy? State two points.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:17 · grounding rag
Model Answer
The growing role of money and muscle power in elections affects political parties in the following ways:
- Nomination of wealthy/criminal candidates: Since parties focus only on winning elections, they tend to nominate candidates who have or can raise large sums of money, or even support criminals who can win elections, compromising the quality of representation.
- Influence of rich people and companies on party decisions: Rich people and big companies who fund political parties tend to influence the policies and decisions of those parties, shifting their focus from public welfare to the interests of wealthy donors.
Source: Democratic Politics, Chapter 4, Challenges to Political Parties
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Explanation
- The examiner expects two distinct points clearly stated — one on candidate selection and one on policy influence.
- Both points must come from the third challenge described in the chapter.
- Avoid vague answers; use key phrases like "nominate candidates who can raise money," "support criminals," and "influence on policies and decisions."
- No need to write more than 2–3 sentences per point for a 3-mark question.