Deck 12: Groups and Interests

Question 1

Which term describes an organized group of individuals or organizations that makes policy-related appeals to government?

A)corporation
B)lobbying firm
C)interest group
D)political action committee
E)527 group

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Special goods,services,or money provided to members of groups to entice others to join are examples of ________ benefits.

A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Interest groups are sometimes confused with which of the following?

A)lobbies
B)charges
C)delegations
D)political action committees
E)corporations

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to Madison,how are the problems of factions best controlled?

A)The government exercises its coercive powers to control group activities that become violent or subversive.
B)The government places limits on the number of interest groups allowed in society.
C)The government encourages the formation of many groups so that no single interest can tyrannize the others.
D)The government places limits on the amount of money that groups may contribute to political campaigns.
E)The government gives corporations the same legal status as people.

Question 5

The fact that a group of individuals would all benefit from draining a swamp but that any individual can "shirk" his or her part of the duties illustrates the concept of:

A)free riding
B)negative externalities
C)positive externalities
D)collective optimization
E)groupthink failures

Question 6

The Natural Resources Defense Council,Common Cause,and the Union of Concerned Scientists are groups driven primarily by:

A)labor interests
B)moral interests
C)the public interest
D)economic interests
E)the research lobby

Question 7

When a set of environmentalists banded together to form the Sierra Club to influence government policy,they created a(n):

A)corporation
B)lobbying firm
C)interest group
D)political action committee
E)527 group

Question 8

Selective benefits of a group's membership that emphasize friendship,networking,and consciousness raising are best described as:

A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive

Question 9

Special newsletters,periodicals,training programs,and conferences provided to members of interest groups to entice others to join are examples of ________ benefits.

A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive

Question 10

James Madison argued that organized interests would have less opportunity to dominate the political process if the nation:

A)was large with diverse interests
B)was small with diverse interests
C)was large with common interests
D)was small with common interests
E)had a strong party system

Question 11

According to the Madisonian theory,what does a good constitution promote?

A)many interest groups
B)firm regulation of interest groups
C)a limited number of interest groups
D)government subsidies for interest groups
E)tax breaks for interest groups

Question 12

According to the pluralist doctrine,competing interests will lead to which of the following?

A)corporatism
B)class warfare
C)consumerism
D)consolidation
E)compromise

Question 13

According to Mancur Olson,small groups are able to overcome the collective action problem more easily than large groups because small groups:

A)are generally not formed for self-interest reasons
B)are more personal and thus more vulnerable to interpersonal persuasion
C)are generally formed by labor interests,which are better at enforcing collective action
D)have fewer resource needs
E)tend to focus on providing public goods instead of private goods

Question 14

The theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government is called:

A)pluralism
B)determinism
C)capitalism
D)interest-group liberalism
E)functionalism

Question 15

In order to function,most groups need all of the following EXCEPT a(n):

A)membership base
B)financial structure
C)cadre of scholars
D)leadership and decision-making structure
E)agency that carries out the group's tasks,like a PR or lobbying office

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways in which interest groups may enhance democracy?

A)Interest groups encourage political participation.
B)Interest groups educate their members.
C)Interest groups monitor government programs.
D)Interest groups lobby to get benefits that are targeted only at their members.
E)Interest groups represent their members' interests in the political arena.

Question 17

The National League of Cities,Harvard University,the Brookings Institution,and the American Enterprise Institute help make up what is known as the ________ lobby.

A)moral
B)beltway
C)business
D)consumer
E)public-sector

Question 18

Interest groups tend to concern themselves with the:

A)policies of government
B)personnel of government
C)issues relevant to businesses
D)issues relevant to individual citizens
E)issues relevant to foreign nations

Question 19

According to the Federal Elections Commission,some political action committees (PACs)are more represented than others.Which of the following is an example of a PAC that is overrepresented in the United States?

A)labor
B)trade associations
C)cooperative
D)corporations and businesses
E)health-related industries

Question 20

The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Petrochemical Refiners Association are examples of interest groups driven primarily by:

A)labor interests
B)moral interests
C)the public interest
D)economic interests
E)the research lobby

Question 21

What do interest-group politics tend to reflect the bias of?

A)religious activists
B)unemployed and homeless persons
C)low-wage service employees
D)well-educated,upper-income professionals
E)unionized workers

Question 22

What is the relationship between government activity and interest-group activity?

A)As government activity declines,interest-group activity increases.
B)As government activity increases,interest-group activity declines.
C)As government activity increases,interest-group activity increases.
D)Interest-group activity increases regardless of government activity.
E)Interest-group activity decreases regardless of government activity.

Question 23

Recent regulations on lobbying:

A)required disclosure of bundled contributions from lobbyists
B)relaxed restrictions on gifts to members of Congress
C)prohibited interest groups from running voter mobilization drives
D)allowed members of Congress to travel on corporate jets free of charge
E)prohibited corporate and union expenditures for political purposes

Question 24

After the president signs a piece of legislation into law,why do interest groups not stop working with the executive branch?

A)They don't want it to look like they only cared about passing the legislation.
B)The friendships developed with executive branch members lead to subsequent get-togethers.
C)Groups typically fear that there might be attempts to undo the legislation in Congress.
D)Faithful implementation of the law is not guaranteed and requires continued contact.
E)The executive branch requires continued input from all lobbying groups under the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Question 25

The sharing of a commonly developed ideology with other group members is an example of ________ benefits.

A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive

Question 26

In the quest for political influence,insider strategies include:

A)going public
B)media campaigns
C)using electoral politics
D)meeting with a senator
E)holding a demonstration on the sidewalk outside the Supreme Court

Question 27

In order to obtain adequate political representation,forces from the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder must be organized together on a massive scale through:

A)labor unions
B)interest groups
C)political parties
D)conscriptive service
E)creative redistricting

Question 28

What part of the 1996 regulations affecting the actions of lobbyists is still in effect today?

A)relaxes control over the practice of honoraria
B)limits the size of individual gifts to no more than $50
C)bans travel of congressional representatives on corporate jets
D)allows businesses to deduct lobbying costs as a business expense
E)prohibits businesses from deducting lobbying costs as a business expense

Question 29

An attempt by a group to influence the policy process through persuasion of government officials is known as:

A)access
B)lobbying
C)corridoring
D)media management
E)going public

Question 30

The federal Administrative Procedure Act (as amended)requires most federal agencies to:

A)prohibit interest groups from influencing the rule-making process
B)set specific timelines for termination of regulations after legislative approval
C)reduce existing paperwork requirements and streamline the regulatory process
D)provide notice and opportunity for comment before implementing new regulations
E)seek formal congressional approval before new rules may go into effect

Question 31

Which term describes the strategy of obtaining political influence that involves gaining access to key decision makers and using the courts?

A)an insider strategy
B)a beltway strategy
C)going public
D)an outsider strategy
E)a citizen's strategy

Question 32

An example of an outsider strategy used by the Sierra Club is:

A)commenting on new environmental rules
B)bringing a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act
C)supporting candidates who promote environmental protection
D)lobbying members of Congress to support legislation to protect the environment
E)meeting with leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency

Question 33

In 1990,Congress encouraged administrative agencies to engage in direct and open discussion with affected stakeholders when developing new regulations through the ________ Act.

A)Public Interest
B)Negotiated Rulemaking
C)Regulatory Participation
D)Interest Group Pluralism
E)Public Affairs

Question 34

Today,few federal agencies would implement a new rule without:

A)obtaining the direct comment of the president
B)getting new authorizing legislation from Congress
C)obtaining a court order
D)consulting the affected interest groups
E)discussing the matter with an independent team of academics

Question 35

The rotation of people between jobs as members and staff in Congress and as lobbyists working with Congress has been labeled:

A)iron triangles
B)rotation station
C)insider trading
D)sleeper cells
E)revolving door politics

Question 36

In the quest for political influence,outsider strategies include:

A)going public
B)using the courts
C)gaining access to key decision makers
D)participating in bureaucratic rule making
E)making campaign contributions

Question 37

Which choice was a major technological factor contributing to the rise and success of new political forces in the 1970s and 1980s?

A)computerized direct-mail campaigns
B)random digit dialing for telemarketing
C)public access programming required for city cable system franchises
D)hypertext markup language (HTML)protocols for initial website development
E)the development of SMS text messaging

Question 38

Selective benefits that emphasize the purpose and accomplishments of the group are known as ________ benefits.

A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive

Question 39

The Christian right is a powerful movement made up of a number of interest groups driven primarily by:

A)informational benefits
B)nonideological missions
C)solidary benefits
D)material benefits
E)purposive benefits

Question 40

The formation of many groups in the 1930s came about because of:

A)the dramatic expansion of the national government
B)a sharp uptick in the number of political entrepreneurs
C)the leftist movement that gained hold during the Great Depression
D)federal deregulation of interest-group formation
E)the development of radio and broadcast media

Question 41

Which of the following indicates an increase in interest group activity?

A)earmarks
B)set asides
C)grants-in-aid
D)revenue streams
E)block grants

Question 42

Interest groups work primarily by trying to get candidates elected.

Question 43

A financial services company that supports legislation making it more difficult for investors to sue for fraud hires a Washington-based firm to generate and mail thousands of letters of support to members of Congress.This strategy is also known as which of the following:

A)Astroturf lobbying
B)franking
C)advertising
D)grassroots lobbying
E)protesting

Question 44

When a grassroots campaign is artificially orchestrated to appear that constituents care about an issue when in reality they do not,it is called:

A)Astroturf lobbying
B)stealth lobbying
C)misguided lobbying
D)simulated lobbying
E)synthetic lobbying

Question 45

Which court case laid the legal framework allowing independent expenditures by interest groups?

A)Buckley v.Valeo
B)McConnell v.FEC
C)Citizens United v.FEC
D)Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v.FEC
E)Caperton v.Massey

Question 46

When the Service Employees International Union spent over $30 million in independent campaign activity on behalf of Barack Obama,they exemplified the strategy of:

A)contributions through PACs
B)campaign activism
C)vote buying
D)Internet campaigning
E)Astroturf lobbying

Question 47

Most initiatives today are actually sponsored by:

A)interest groups
B)political parties
C)individual citizens
D)state legislative leaders
E)members of Congress

Question 48

When the Sierra Club initiated a public media campaign to encourage citizens across the country to support its environmental initiatives,it used the strategy known as:

A)going public
B)new politics
C)network advocacy
D)direct group representation
E)lobbying

Question 49

An example of a case in which groups (specifically women's groups)seeking support from the courts suffered a major defeat for the women's rights movement was the Supreme Court case:

A)Roe v.Wade
B)Eisenstadt v.Baird
C)Taylor v.Caldecott
D)Webster v.Reproductive Health Services
E)Griswold v.Connecticut

Question 50

An example of a case in which the NAACP successfully used the courts to make the first declaration that segregation of the schools was unconstitutional was:

A)Brown v.Board of Education
B)Janey v.Fleet School District
C)Abrams v.Little Rock Public Schools
D)Atkinson v.State School Superintendent of Public Instruction
E)Heart of Atlanta v.United States

Question 51

An expensive,well-designed ad published in the New York Times that features the successful track record in environmental protection by a major oil company is an example of:

A)lobbying
B)corridoring
C)going public
D)damage control
E)network advocacy

Question 52

Special congressional appropriations for expenditures on particular projects in specific states or districts that lobbyists seek for their group are called:

A)earmarks
B)set asides
C)grants-in-aid
D)revenue streams
E)block grants

Question 53

Which late nineteenth-century group originally promoted the political tactic known as the initiative?

A)populists
B)socialists
C)libertarians
D)party bosses
E)muckrackers

Question 54

A strategy that launches a media campaign to build popular support is called:

A)going public
B)new politics
C)network advocacy
D)direct group representation
E)lobbying

Question 55

Mobilizing ordinary citizens to write to their representatives in support of a group's position is a specific example of a:

A)media blitz
B)mass pressure group
C)direct group representation
D)public relations campaign
E)grassroots lobbying effort

Question 56

Organized protests as a strategy for winning support for a group's policy positions:

A)are generally not protected as free speech because of inherent dangers in protests
B)create a sense of community and raise the consciousness of people outside the protest
C)have no record of success in the United States,though they have been used successfully elsewhere
D)are effective for unions but are not effective for other groups
E)tend to work for Democrats but not for Republicans

Question 57

A device that allows groups to propose laws that the public will vote on in the next general election ballot,thereby bypassing elected officials,is a(n):

A)recall
B)run-off
C)petition
D)initiative
E)redress requisition

Question 58

The Watergate scandal was triggered by the illegal:

A)trading of arms for hostages in Iran
B)taping of presidential conversations in the White House
C)use of unregistered cash from corporate executives by the Nixon campaign
D)entry of Republican workers into the Democratic National Committee office
E)use of wiretapping of Democratic candidates' phones

Question 59

A companion brief to an existing court case is called:

A)in camera
B)lex scripta
C)amicus curiae
D)non compos mentis
E)writ of mandamus

Question 60

Limits on campaign contributions and requirements that each candidate or campaign committee provide the full name and address,occupation,and principal business of each person who contributes more than $100 are features of the:

A)Kennedy-Obama plan of 2007
B)McCain-Feingold legislative proposal of 2002
C)Bipartisan Campaign Control and Reform Act of 1986
D)Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended in 1974)
E)Buckley decision of 1976

Question 61

According to Madisonian theory,a good constitution encourages multitudes of interests so that no single interest can ever tyrannize the others.

Question 62

A politics in which interest groups predominate is a politics with a distinctly upper-class bias.

Question 63

To obtain adequate political representation in the United States,forces from the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder generally must be organized on the massive scale associated with political parties.

Question 64

Interest groups focus on helping their favorite candidates win elections,while political action committees focus on influencing elected officials.

Question 65

Lobbyists serve a useful purpose in the legislative and administrative process by providing valuable information.

Question 66

Within the universe of interest-group politics,political power rather than an abstract conception of the public good is likely to prevail.

Question 67

Modern research indicates that interest groups easily form in response to changes in the political environment.

Question 68

In contrast to political parties,interest groups tend to concern themselves with government personnel.

Question 69

Membership in interest groups is randomly distributed in the population.

Question 70

Interest groups help craft language in legislation.

Question 71

In American society,empirical research shows that groups form roughly in proportion to people's interests.

Question 72

According to the text,a diversity of interests enhance American democracy because it promotes compromise and moderation.

Question 73

The framers of the U.S.Constitution were fearful of factions.

Question 74

In the American democratic system,pluralism assumes that interests are fully and equally represented in the political process.

Question 75

Large groups manage to overcome the free-rider problem more frequently than their smaller counterparts.

Question 76

The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act requires all organizations employing lobbyists to register with Congress and to disclose whom they represent.

Question 77

Many Washington lobbyists double as fund-raisers for political campaigns.

Question 78

The influence of interest groups has declined in recent years.

Question 79

In recent years,interest groups have become much more numerous,more active,and more influential in American politics.

Question 80

The Christian right is a powerful movement made up of a number of interest groups that offer virtually no material benefits to its members.