Part of the decline of political machines can be attributed to which factor?

• A. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the commerce clause.
• B. The general decline in vote turnout.
• C. The increasing education and sophistication of voters.
• D. Economic depression in major metropolitan areas.

Answer: (C)

The factor being tested is that an increase in voters’ education and sophistication reduces the pull of patronage-based machines. When people are more informed, they’re better at weighing promises, spotting corruption, and demanding reforms. This makes it harder for machines to exchange favors for votes, because voters push for merit-based hiring, cleaner elections, and accountability. As educated voters engage more critically with politics, machine networks lose their grip and decline. The other ideas don’t align as directly with this shift: Supreme Court interpretations of the commerce clause affect federal power in different ways, turnout changes don’t by themselves erode machine control, and economic downturns can have mixed effects but don’t universally explain the decline in machine influence.