Deck 10: Interest Group Politics Popular Pressure or Elite Bias

Question 1

Explain the difference between insider strategy and outsider strategy.

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.
Insider strategy is the use by an interest group of face-to-face, one-on-one persuasion to convince decision makers in Washington that the interest group's position makes sense.Outsider strategy is the mobilization by an interest group of forces outside Washington to put pressure on decision makers to act in ways favorable to the interest group.

Question 2

Joe Backpack is a lobbyist for the National Wildlife Foundation following an insider strategy.His job is to

A)gain new members by recruiting door to door.
B)analyze endangered species.
C)influence government officials to support the group's policy objectives.
D)find new office space for his organization.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Explain the iron triangle.

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.
An iron triangle is an alliance between a congressional committee, an interest group, and an executive agency that serves each one's interest, often at the expense of the general public.

Question 4

Compare and contrast the strategies that interest groups can use to influence government policy.What are the consequences for the political system of each strategy you discuss?

Question 5

What is an issue network?

Question 6

Explain what is meant by Astroturf lobbying.

Question 7

Explain the four characteristics of pluralism.What is the inherent elite democratic tendency in pluralist theory?

Question 8

What is the Federal Register ?

Question 9

Define public interest groups.Which strategy have public interest groups generally used to affect policy? How have the elites responded to public interest groups?

Question 10

Popular democrats believe that

A)the interest group system strongly encourages political participation among all classes of citizens.
B)the influx of large numbers of new interest groups is overwhelming the political system.
C)although the interest group system has become more accessible, it is still skewed toward elite interests.
D)grassroots mobilization should be replaced by the use of sophisticated insider strategies.

Question 11

Which of the following is a reason why interest groups have more influence in American politics than in most Western democracies?

A)Political power in the United States is fragmented and decentralized.
B)Only the United States permits interest group activity.
C)Our strong party system tends to encourage interest group activity.
D)Interest group lobbying is unnecessary in parliamentary systems.

Question 12

Interest group politics differs from electoral politics in that

A)interest groups are never involved in political campaigns.
B)interest groups do not run their own candidates for office.
C)electoral politics has no impact on the legislative process.
D)interest groups only try to lobby appointed officials.

Question 13

What is a collective action problem?

Question 14

In the American interest group system

A)broad public interests have gotten the better of narrow economic interests since the 1960s.
B)moral and public interests have been completely shut out.
C)broad public interests and economic interests are represented equally well.
D)economic interests are better represented than public or moral concerns.

Question 15

Explain the theory of pluralism.

Question 16

Interest groups play a more powerful role in U.S.politics than in any other country.Lobbyists have spent more than 2 billion dollars on trying to influence the Federal Government and have become very wealthy themselves while doing so.What are the implications of this for our democratic system?

Question 17

The primary goal of interest groups is to

A)educate citizens about major political issues.
B)eliminate corruption and waste in government.
C)provide campaign funds for presidential candidates.
D)influence public policy.

Question 18

What is the purpose of direct marketing?

Question 19

What is interest group politics?

Question 20

What are public interest groups?

Question 21

Public interest groups can be distinguished from other interest groups in that public interest groups

A)are not trying to advance specific policies.
B)are only involved in electoral politics and not in lobbying.
C)seek government action on policies they believe are in everyone's interest.
D)are the only type that uses grassroots pressure.

Question 22

Lobbies get their names from

A)citizens using the lobby outside the Louvre to argue for Napoleon in France.
B)citizens pleading their cases in a large lobby outside the House of commons in Britain.
C)citizens pressing their case to the Founding Fathers in the lobby of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
D)None of the above is correct.

Question 23

Which of the following best explains why producer groups are easier to organize than consumer or public interest groups?

A)Pluralist theory
B)Collective action problem
C)Outsider strategies
D)Political apathy

Question 24

Which of the following reforms is NOT suggested in the text to help alleviate corporate dominance of the interest group system?

A)Tighten campaign finance laws.
B)Require more disclosure of lobbying activities.
C)Improve media oversight.
D)Mandate federal government oversight of all interest groups.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT an example of the revolving door?

A)A former official at the Department of Agriculture becomes a lobbyist for a farmers' group.
B)A member of Congress resigns and joins a Washington lobbyist firm.
C)A member of the House runs for the Senate.
D)A former White House staffer lobbies in the executive branch.

Question 26

The Christian Coalition and the League of Women Voters are examples of

A)political action committees.
B)corporate lobbies.
C)trade associations.
D)public interest groups.

Question 27

Ralph Nader's vision of how to demonstrate citizen action is flawed because

A)many public interest groups do not depend upon mass membership or popular participation.
B)it focuses on mobilizing the poor and working class but excludes middle class concerns.
C)it has not taken advantage of the importance of information and analysis to policy makers.
D)it foregoes the use of highly effective direct mail fundraising techniques.

Question 28

As public interest groups deployed outsider strategies, corporate elites

A)failed to comprehend how the interest group system had changed.
B)sought to cut deals with the public interest representatives.
C)tried to buy off public interest group leaders.
D)countermobilized and regained the upper hand.

Question 29

According to the text, the number of people employed lobbying the federal government in Washington

A)have no influence in Congress.
B)totals roughly 260,000 in number.
C)always make the policy process benefit broad groups.
D)should be banned by the federal government.

Question 30

According to the text, popular democrats can best counter moneyed interests by

A)engaging in Astroturf lobbying.
B)forming real grassroots organizations.
C)eliminating all interest groups.
D)hiring better lobbyists and consultants.

Question 31

What strategy relies on gaining access to public officials and on personal persuasion?

A)Outsider strategy
B)Grassroots strategy
C)Pluralist strategy
D)Insider strategy

Question 32

Membership in special interest groups is

A)most common among the working class.
B)most common among the affluent.
C)more common among the young.
D)similar at all income levels.

Question 33

According to the text, the current pressure group system

A)ensures that all major interests in society are heard by decision makers.
B)does not fulfill pluralist theory since power is concentrated in relatively few hands.
C)is dominated by corporate lobbies speaking for the interest of consumers.
D)disperse power equally among a wide variety of competing groups.

Question 34

According to pluralist theory, interest groups do not pose a threat to the public good because

A)public policy emerges from the balance of competing interests.
B)their influence is tightly limited by the federal government.
C)all their actions are open to public scrutiny.
D)they exert little influence over Congress and the executive branch.

Question 35

The primary advantage of direct marketing as an interest group strategy is that it

A)eliminates the need to lobby members of Congress.
B)allows for specialized appeals to carefully targeted audiences.
C)appeals to the reader's rational interests rather than his or her emotional reactions.
D)allows an interest group to send its message to as many people as possible.

Question 36

The key to "Astroturf lobbying" is

A)honesty.
B)mobilizing all citizens.
C)deception.
D)None of the above is correct.

Question 37

The outsider strategy in interest group politics

A)works best on issues of broad public concern.
B)has been abandoned in favor of the insider strategy.
C)is effective when lawmakers need detailed policy information and advice.
D)applies only to the lobbying of the executive branch.