Explanation:

Functions of Political Parties: Basically, political parties fill political offices and  exercise political power. Parties do so by performing a series of functions:
1. Parties contest elections: In most democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates  put up by political parties. Parties select their candidates in different ways. In some countries, such  as the USA, members and supporters of a party choose its candidates. In other countries like India,  top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.
2. Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them.
3. Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Formally, laws are debated and passed  in the legislature. But since most of the members belong to a party, they go by the direction of the  party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions.
4. Parties form and run governments: Parties recruit leaders, trains them and then make them  ministers to run the government in the way they want.
5. Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the parties in power, by  voicing different views and criticising government for its failures or wrong policies. Opposition parties  also mobilise opposition to the government.
6. Parties shape public opinion: They raise and highlight issues. Parties have lakhs of members and  activists spread all over the country. Many of the pressure groups are the extensions of political  parties among different sections of society.
7. Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by  governments. For an ordinary citizen it is easy to approach a local party leader than a government  officer