Final answer:
Hard money consists of direct contributions to candidates and is limited while soft money refers to donations made to political parties, which historically faced fewer limits.
Step-by-step explanation:
One difference between hard money and soft money is that hard money is heavily regulated and limited, while soft money is not used to support an individual campaign or advocate the election of a particular candidate and historically had fewer regulations and limits. To clarify, hard money consists of direct contributions to candidates' campaigns that are subject to legal limits. In contrast, soft money refers to donations made to political parties for purposes such as party-building efforts, get-out-the-vote campaigns, and issue-advocacy ads, which are not as strictly regulated. Major efforts to limit the use of soft money were made with the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), also known as the McCain-Feingold Act.
In summary, the correct answer to the student's question is:
- Soft money can be given directly to political candidates.