GOVT 2305 Quiz: Chapter 13

There is a common assumption about pluralist politics that government programs emerge in response to interest group demands

Although in reality, interests and interest groups arise in defense of government programs

How did James Madison propose to deal with factions

By dividing authority among federal institutions

When the National Rifle Association wants to prevent new restrictions on firearms, its members shower Congress with letters, e-mails, faxes, and phone calls, and this is an example of what kind of lobbying

Grassroots

During the colonial times, American interests cultivated parliamentary leaders, bombarded members of Parliament with information, and arranged for expert testimony as part of what kind of strategy

Insider lobbying

How do insiders and outsiders use electoral politics differently to influence elected officials

Insiders offer electoral help, while outsiders more commonly threaten electoral harm

Which of the following statements about spending by efforts of interest groups to influence government is accurate

Interest groups spend billions more every cycle on lobbying than they do on campaign contributions

Although almost everyone advocates a balanced budget, every spending program and tax break is defended by organized beneficiaries but why does deficit reduction have less organized support

It is a diffuse collective good

What kind of incentives motivate individuals to contribute to groups espousing causes they care about without worrying whether their contribution will make an appreciable difference

Moral

What do the developments in farm policy and federally sponsored medical research tell us about interest groups

More complex issues and a fragmented policy process force groups to specialize to be effective

Why do lawmakers want information about public policies

Officials want to avoid disastrous and costly mistakes; want information that reduces uncertainty and the likelihood of nasty surprises

How is successful lobbying similar to the actions that the President takes when trying to gain support from members of Congress

One strategy is getting people to do what he or she wants them to do by convincing them that the action serves their goals

How do outsider tactics differ from insider tactics

Outsider tactics impose real pressure to push politicians to act in ways they otherwise would prefer not to

Interest group leaders and their constituents are involved in what relationship with all the familiar problems and challenges such relationships pose

Principal-agent

Which of the following is a standard collective action problem that must be overcome for an interest group to promote or defend a shared interest

Rational self-interest leads to universal free riding, which dooms the organization as well as the effort unless some way can be found around this difficulty

What factors influence the challenge of organizing collective action

Scale of the group and the stakes of its involvement in public policy

What is one of the major concerns for specialized interest groups working in an issue area

Similar groups appeal to the same supporters and this makes the formation of coalitions tricky

Why does the competition between competing groups lead to policy gridlock

Since there are many groups capable of vigorously defending themselves, it is impossible to initiate any change that imposes concentrated costs to achieve general benefits

What did the experiences of walnut growers and poultrymen in 1959 illustrate about the success of interest groups

Small groups with intense interests have an organizational advantage

Congressional decision makers need which of the following two related types of information before they can implement policy

Technical information and political information

Why did David Truman and other scholars argue that the American political system was particularly conducive to pluralist politics

The decentralized structure offered numerous points of access where groups could bid for favorable policies

Why does modern politics breed professional lobbyists

The growing scope and complexity of government requires agents who understand how institutions work

Why has the encouragement of the federal government itself been the most important of the dynamics behind the expanding interest group universe

The growing scope of government activity has encouraged the proliferation of organizations in the nonprofit and public sectors

Which of the following criticisms of interest groups is most accurate

The power and resources possessed by lobbyists tend to reflect the power that the groups they represent have in society

Why do factions continue to raise serious problems for American democracy

The resources needed to gain influence-money, access, and expertise-are distributed very unevenly

Which of the following is true about the conflicts to be found among organized interests

These mirror and sometimes crystallize divisions and uncertainties prevalent among Americans

Which of the following statements about PACs is not true

They are only permitted to donate money in congressional elections

What does the fight over financial reform legislation tell us about the role of interest groups in the United States

They may be omnipresent in American politics, but they are not omnipotent

What influence have labor unions had on American politics

Unions use a portion of dues paid by members to fund the campaigns of sympathetic candidates, and union members are the primary foot soldiers for knocking on doors and making phone calls

The credibility of political information provided by lobbyists to political officials is enhanced when

a group mobilizes its constituency as part of the lobbying effort

Lobbying is defined as

appeals from citizens and groups to legislators for favorable policies and decisions

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention agreed to meet behind locked doors and to keep their deliberations secret until the convention was over in order to

avoid becoming "beset by a horde of citizens seeking to advance their own interests"

Most successful large organizations circumvent the collective action problem by offering "selective incentives," which are

benefits that can be denied to individuals who do not join and contribute

Since politicians know that lobbyists are advocates, they can only trust a lobbyist's information when

both sides expect to have a continuing relationship

Madison and de Tocqueville both believed that voluntary groups

despite the risks, were essential to an egalitarian social and political system

The experiences of Uber demonstrate that

digital social networks can reweigh the calculus of political activism by making it almost costless and that can deliver policy victories

Most politically active interest groups

do not form PACs at all but rely on other methods to influence politics

The use of litigation for interest groups is

especially attractive to groups that can rest claims on constitutional rights and that do not have the clout to influence elected politicians

Most scholarly research has found that political action committees

exert, at most, only a modest effect on a legislator's decisions

The formation of interest groups in the pluralist argument occurred because

groups formed spontaneously whenever shared interests were threatened or could be enhanced by political action

One way that lobbyists increase the credibility of their messages is by

hiring scientists or scholars to testify at congressional hearings to back technical claims made by the lobbyists

The scope of the interest group universe has

increased substantially during the past 50 years as both private and public interests employ lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

The Anti-Saloon League, whose successful lobbying led to the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment, was successful in part because

it focused only on electing "drys" and defeating "wets"

The generation of journalists and social critics who exposed the lobbying methods used by the newly emerging industrial corporations and trusts in the post-Civil War era are collectively referred to as

muckrakers

The insider and outsider strategies interest groups use to affect policy are

not mutually exclusive, and the groups use either or both depending on circumstances and opportunities

Groups like the "Occupy" movement and Tea Party have galvanized sizable segments of society and will likely inspire other groups because

organizers of social movements quickly imitate successful innovations, and each new group can draw on the experience of its predecessors

Reports to the media, news conferences, and demonstrations are all examples of

outsider tactics used by interest groups

New policies create constituencies ripe for organization in part because

people who adapt their plans to existing policies develop a stake in their continuation

For James Madison, factions were by definition

pernicious because they pursue selfish aims contrary to the rights of others or the public interest

The largest interest group in the United States, AARP, was formed to market insurance to senior citizens, and it thrives by

providing members with a variety of selective benefits

The Sons of Liberty and the English Bill of Rights Society were early examples of

public interest lobbies

Before a rule or regulation can be adopted, the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 requires administrative agencies to

publish the rule or regulation in the Federal Register and hold public hearings if anyone objects to it

The fact that interest groups vary widely in wealth and how readily they can be organized for action combined with policy gridlock and political paralysis raises concerns that

successful lobbying subverts the basic principles of democratic equality and majority rule

When polled, a representative sample of lobbying group offices in Washington identified their most important activities as

testifying at hearings and contacting government officials directly to present the group's point of view

One formidable barrier to PAC influence is

that many important issues generate conflicts among well-organized interests so politicians could have access to PAC money regardless of which side they take

In general, the more government does

the more incentives it creates for organized political action

Social ferment, a growing and increasingly well-educated and affluent middle class, and technological innovations have contributed to

the rapid proliferation of interest groups since the 1960s

Although groups like the American Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1833, and the National Trades Union, founded in 1834, had political aims, they are not referred to as "political interest groups" because

they sought to achieve their ends without involving the government

Prominent public interest groups like Common Cause and Public Citizen that rely on moral incentives find that

they tend to grow when opponents run the government

By helping office holders plan legislation and assemble legislative coalitions, among other things, lobbyists

will not so much change minds as activate politicians are already on their side