Deck 16: Ten Myths About Health Lobbyists

Question 1

Today, the clients who hire health care lobbyists tend to ____.

A)view health care as big business
B)be very frugal
C)be idealists
D)view health care as an important precondition of life itself

Answer 1

view health care as big business

Question 2

Which statement best describes the author's findings regarding the information lobbyists provide to members of Congress?

A)Deliver solid, useful, timely information that members of Congress can use without fear of being embarrassed.
B)Tailor information narrowly to spin the target.
C)Democratic information for Democrats, Republican information for Republicans.
D)Never vary the emphasis between written and oral presentations.

Answer 2

Deliver solid, useful, timely information that members of Congress can use without fear of being embarrassed.

Question 3

Most of the lobbyists that the author followed or interviewed had ideological and issue preferences that grew out of ____.

A)their years of work in public service
B)their commitment to their clients' causes
C)their academic training
D)their relationships with the public officials they lobby

Answer 3

their years of work in public service

Question 4

Among federal health policy lobbyists, women are ____.

A)roughly equal in numbers to men
B)limited to middle-manager and lower positions
C)rarely successful as "hired gun" lobbyists
D)excluded from the most profitable work with pharmaceutical companies

Question 5

In 2000, Republican George Bush was elected President. In 2010, Republicans regained control of the House. In the wake of both elections, ____.

A)little change was evident in health lobbyists' campaign contributions or hiring practices
B)K Street ramped up its Republican hiring
C)K Street had little reason to hire Democratic lobbyists
D)Democrats received a spiraling share of campaign contributions from lobbyists and their clients

Question 6

Despite being portrayed as verging on chaos, policymaking and lobbying on most health care issues are more stable than described due to ____.

A)issue regimes
B)iron triangles
C)issue networks
D)golden triangles

Question 7

Of the following methods of affecting policy debates, which did the lobbyists that the author observed and interviewed rank as the least important?

A)PAC and soft-money donations
B)direct lobbying
C)researching issues
D)media interviews

Question 8

What was the author's primary research method?

A)direct observation of lobbyists
B)public opinion surveys regarding lobbyists
C)statistical analysis of legislative outcomes
D)public opinion surveys regarding legislative outcomes

Question 9

What role did lobbyists for affected industries play during President Obama's efforts to pass the Affordable Care Act?

A)They sought to shape reform rather than block it.
B)They quietly sought to block reform.
C)They lined up along the usual pro-reform and anti-reform divide.
D)They harshly criticized the President's efforts.

Question 10

Which statement best describes lobbyists' relationships with their clients?

A)Lobbyists sometimes promote their personal views of worthy public policy outcomes.
B)Lobbyists have little space for discretionary activity.
C)Lobbyists always act in faithful obedience to the clients that hire them.
D)Lobbyists, frequently but surreptitiously, depart radically from their clients' ideological predispositions.

Question 11

Over the years, medical malpractice reform efforts have ____.

A)settled into consistent policy options and style of legislating among familiar stakeholders
B)led to significant reform at the federal level
C)led to widespread reform at the state level
D)settled into agreements to disagree among an ever-changing cast of characters

Question 12

The author's research suggests that the purpose of PAC contributions to members of the House and Senate or a political party is to ____.

A)insure against unforeseen problems
B)gain policy influence
C)keep friendly legislators in office
D)win access to members

Question 13

Which statement is true regarding health care lobbying today?

A)The prominent interest-group coalitions on most issues include lobbyists associated with both parties.
B)Most lobbying firms need to have a strong partisan identity to survive.
C)Most lobbying firms need to swing with the political winds after each election.
D)The prominent interest-group coalitions' strength and success lies in strong identification with one party.

Question 14

In the author's view, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , is ____.

A)unlikely to create a novel form of villain in light of the past two decades of campaign and issue-ad contributions
B)unlikely to spawn powerful negative advertising campaigns targeting Democratic issues and candidates
C)likely to provide full employment for lobbyists who will direct Super PAC spending
D)likely to unleash a new tool of corporate and wealthy-individual influence

Question 15

After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, ____.

A)health lobbyists were busy with issues of implementation, interpretation, and repeal
B)implementation took place largely out of public view
C)subsequent rulemaking processes were the domain of technical experts
D)the Supreme Court's opinion in June 2012 put an end to lobbying efforts