B is my pick for this!
dude, i guess you have mixed the CR question with some other solution! Check up again!
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Cheers, Rahul.

Hi,

I've posted this question before and the OA should be A. Please re-check your OA.

Okay, here's how you should work out the choices:

Diagramming:

1) we have heard a good deal in recent yrs about declining importance of 2 major parties
2) we are told it is the mass media that decide outcome of elections and not the power of the parties
3) but it is worth noting no independent or 3rd party candidate has won any impt election in recnet yrs
4) in last nationwide campaign, the 2 major parties raised and spent more money than ever before in support of their candidate and platforms
5) it seems clear that reports of the imminent demise of the 2 party system are premature at best <-- conclusion

The assumption is an unsated piece of evidence, without which, the conclusion will collaspe.

Let's evaluate each option.

(A) The amount of money raised and spent by a political party is one valid criterion for judging the influence of the party.
- The conclusion states that reports of the demise of the 2 party system are premature as no one else has won it and in the last campaign, the 2 parties pumped in a lot of financial support. Now, this conclusion is valid only if the amount of money raised and spent by a political party is a valid criteria for juding the influence of the party (i.e. the power of the party)

(B) A significant increase in the number of third-party candidates would be evidence of a decline in the importance of the two major parties.
- How does this link to the conclusion that the 2 party system coming to an end is premature? It only supports that the 2 party system is indeed dying.

(C) The two-party system has contributed significantly to the stability of the American political structure.
- This is completely out of scope. Not once in the passage was the stability of the American political structure discussed.

(D) The mass media tend to favor an independent or third-party candidate over a candidate from one of the two major parties.
- This is not useful at all. This is only useful if the conclusion was "The mass media therefore contols the outcomes of election.

(E) The mass media are relatively unimportant in deciding the outcome of most elections.
- This is not useful either. So what if the mass media is unimportant in deciding the outcome of most elections? It still does not tell us why the prediction is wrong.

A is therefore the correct answer.