The Logic of American Politics: Chapter 13 Quiz

PAC contributions to candidates increased by close to ______% between 1974 and 1986:

200

James Madison would be comforted by the lack of organized "factions" in contemporary American politics.

False.

Lobbyists dictate what goes on in Washington D C.

False.

Most scholarly research has found that political action committee are more influential on legislators than partisanship, ideology, or constituent preferences.

False.

Most successful large organizations circumvent the collective action problem by offering "selective incentives," which are benefits available to everyone regardless of membership in the group.

False.

Politicians can never trust the information provided by a lobbyist, so the costs of doing business are very high.

False.

Small groups are harder to organize because transaction costs are higher and free riding is more severe.

False.

The Sons of Liberty were an early public interest group well known for their subversive activities, including the publication of the Federalist Papers.

False.

The demise of iron triangle has ended the criticism of pluralist politics.

False.

The rise of public interest groups and the fragmentation of the interest group universe has increased concern about the role of iron triangles and captured agencies.

False.

To maintain the freedoms specified in the First Amendment—to speak, publish, assemble, and "petition the Government for a redress of grievances"—a political system should remove any evidence of factions.

False.

Which Washington D.C. address has become synonymous with the lobbying firms that represent America's biggest and most powerful interests:

K Street.

The logic of lobbying is:

People who want to influence government decisions quickly recognize the advantages of working alone to minimize conformity costs.

Which of the following is a reason the surfrider foundation was successful in mobilizing members?

Surfrider had also assembled an organizational structure that allowed its members to quickly mobilize.

Which of the following contributed to the break-up of iron triangles?

The ability of legislators to learn from past mistakes.

Electoral incentives can help mitigate some of the problems that come with interest groups—including the fact that some interests are favored over others and narrow private interests enjoy an advantage over broader ones.

True.

Interest groups can be construed as an example of the factions Madison cautioned against in Federalist 10.

True.

Lobbying as a profession thus emerged with modern representative government and has flourished with the growing scope and complexity of government activities.

True.

Lobbying expenditures are far greater than campaign contributions to Congress.

True.

Members of Congress are in a much stronger position to influence PACs than PACs are to influence them.

True.

Organizations that rely on so called "moral incentives" for joining interest groups tend to grow when opponents run the government.

True.

Specialized, fragmented groups are dependent on members of Congress or White House officials to build and lead legislative coalitions.

True.

The civil rights movement inspired and instructed the subsequent stream of organizations that agitated for social change because organizers of social movements quickly imitate successful innovations, and each new group can draw on the experience of its predecessors.

True.

The fact that nonprofit organizations are exempt from most taxes make forming a group appealing.

True.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable are two examples of the federal government encouraging the proliferation of groups.

True.

We have met the special interests, and they are us.

True.

When the National Rifle Association wants to prevent new restrictions on firearms, its members shower Congress with letters, e-mails, faxes, and phone calls supporting its position. This is an example of grassroots lobbying.

True.

With so many groups capable of vigorously defending themselves, some observers argue that it is impossible to initiate any change that imposes concentrated costs to achieve general benefits even if the benefits greatly outweigh the costs.

True.

Which of the following is a resource needed to gain influence?

access

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 become "beset by a horde of citizens seeking to advance their own interests.

Grassroots lobbying is used:

by large groups with conspicuous and contentious issues and focuses on mobilizing members to send messages that reiterate the groups' demands.

Most scholarly research has found that political action committees:

easily circumvent the policy preferences of political constituents.

Which of the following areas best represents the idea that as links between diverse problems have become more transparent, a wider range of organized interests has pushed into formerly isolated issue Domains?

farm policy

The rise of public interest groups and the fragmentation of the interest group universe as well as the ability of legislators to learn from past mistakes, broke up the ______ made up of members of Congress, lobbyists, and regulatory agencies.

iron triangles

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.

E. E. Schattschneider's observation: "The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent" implies:

organizational resources are distributed unevenly across political interests.

According to Madison, factions were by definition:

pernicious, pursuing selfish aims contrary to the rights of others or to the public interests.

The clamor of competing interest groups is blamed for:

policy gridlock.

Interest group leaders and their constituents are involved in a(n) ______ relationship with all the familiar problems and challenges such relationships pose.

principal-agent

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.

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 greatest danger to a group is:

similar groups appealing o the same supporters.

Prominent public interest groups

tend to grow when opponents run the government and shrink when sympathetic politicians are in power.

The health-care bill demonstrated:

that a president claiming a policy mandate and legislative leaders using every trick up their sleeves are still the primary forces in the policy process.

In general, the more government does:

the more incentives it creates for organized political action.

The National Automobile Dealers Association found itself exempt from oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) due to a successful lobbying strategy focusing on:

their role as an underdog, populist rhetoric, and wide distribution across the country.