Part II: Application and Critical Thinking (20 points) 6. The primary goal of political parties is to shape public policy. However, political parties are
also one of the linkage institutions that help citizens connect with the U. S. government. Write a
short essay analyzing the functions of political parties. Your essay should address the following
questions:
1. What are common ways political parties attempt to shape public policy?
2. Why is it important for parties to influence public opinion if they want to shape public
policy?
3. To what degree do you think political parties allow citizens to participate in the
democratic process? Do they give some citizens more opportunity to participate than
others? How could political parties be made more successful as linkage institutions?