Gov.Chapter 7
Who can legally contribute to federal political action committees?
U.S. citizens and legal immigrants only
In order to attract greater attention, which group is often used by interest groups to testify before Congress as a means of raising public awareness?
celebrities
The practice of using public outreach to build favorable public opinion of an organization or company is known as
climate control
The benefits of public interest group activity are most often not limited to the group's membership, but rather result in
collective goods
According to research presented in the text, people with this education level had the highest participation rates in online groups
college grad
Ralph Nader is best known for his involvement with ________ interest groups.
consumer
What phrase did Alexis de Tocqueville coin to describe Americans in his 1835 work Democracy in America?
"a nation of joiners"
In what decade was union membership the HIGHEST?
1960s
In what decade was union membership the LOWEST?
2000s
Super PACs first became an important factor in national elections in
2012
What percentage of Americans belong to voluntary groups or associations?
80 percent
What factor influences and decides an interest group's political effectiveness?
All of these factors influence and decide an interest group's political effectiveness.
In what way do interest groups succeed in channeling civic participation?
All of these answers are correct.
Which of the following is/are employed by special interest representatives to gain access to policymakers?
All of these answers are correct.
Which social group is likely to be overrepresented in interest groups?
All of these groups are likely to be overrepresented in interest groups.
Define and explain the effects of the formation of iron triangles.
An iron triangle, which involves a trio of interactions among mutual interests, seeks policy outcomes that are mutually beneficial, and also make it difficult for outside interests to penetrate them.
Which of the following Supreme Court decisions drastically altered the political landscape by allowing corporate and union election financing?
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Which interest group spent the most money on lobbying in 2015?
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
_________ theory posits that political power is dominated by the wealthy, who commonly use that power for the benefit of themselves.
Elite
Which of the following is held as an undisputed fact among political scientists today?
Interest groups are an essential feature of American democracy.
Explain why interest groups use celebrities to publicly communicate their message.
Interest groups are interested in communicating their message to the widest possible audience in order to build larger support for their cause. Celebrities are good at this because the public watches them and pays attention to them.
Identify at least two negative effects of interest groups on policy formation.
Interest groups are often criticized as corrupting the policy-making process, alongside an influx of money can also make campaigns expensive and one-sided.
Discuss lobbying, and identify tactics used by lobbyists to communicate with and influence policy makers.
Lobbying is when individuals communicate directly with policy makers on the interest groups behalf. Tactics used are ones such as donating a certain amount of money, or gifts to a certain price.
Outline the relationship between interest-group participation and social class.
Most data suggests that working-class people are generally less likely to have been politically socialized than those from more privileged groups. Extenuating factors that account for this include access to childcare and disposable income, and access to computers and the Internet.
Which of the following statements about interest groups and their political action committees (PACs) is most accurate?
Participation of PACs in a campaign tend to make it more even and less expensive.
Which group is recognized as the national Catholic peace movement?
Pax Christi USA
Explain the key features and functions of PACs (political action committees).
Political action committees raise and spend money to influence elections. Often connected to other interest groups, or to political campaigns and candidates, PACs shape the composition of government.
Identify at least two public interest groups and explain their functions and issues.
Public interest groups are generally concerned with a broad range of issues that affect the populace at large, such as healthcare. Examples of public interest groups include the National Taxpayers Union, and Common Cause.
Relationships that improve our individual lives by giving us social connections to solve common problems are forms of
Social Capital
Define social capital and explain its relationship to the benefits generated by participation in interest groups.
Social capital refers to the relationships that improve our lives by giving us social connections with which to solve common problems. Providing benefits such as improving individual lives, and encouraging communication between individuals, interest groups and the government.
Identify at least two positive effects of interest groups on the policy-making process.
They educate the public about policy issues, while also providing information and expertise to policy makers, which can protect the common good through checks and balances.
Today, religious interests are among the most influential interest groups in U.S. politics, but for a long time organized religious interests were uninvolved in politics. Why?
They were afraid of losing their tax-exempt status
Compare and contrast the pluralist and elite theories of interest group formation.
While both theories explain patterns of interest group behavior, they do so from different perspectives. The pluralist theory emphasizes that interest groups are essential to a democracy, because they ensure the representation of individual interests, though not all individuals participate. Elite theorists argue that an elite class dominates political activity, including interest groups.
Of all the different types of U.S. interest groups, which of the following tends to have the most disproportionate amount of influence?
agricultural interest groups
When interest groups employ former members of government as lobbyists, they are creating
an issue network.
All of the following are examples of indirect strategies used by interest groups to advance their cause EXCEPT
buttonholing
Which of the following occupations are primarily represented by professional organizations?
doctors and lawyers
Many people over 50 join the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) in order to enjoy the discounts provided to members. This is an example of which type of incentive?
economic
When an interest group representing teachers lobbies a state legislature for an increase in retirement benefits, it is seeking to provide its members with ________ benefits
economic
When interest groups engage in indirect strategies to support candidates supportive of their agendas, it is known as
electioneering
In the iron triangle, which of the following is a benefit Congress derives from its relationship with interest groups?
electoral support
Which of the following occupations are represented by industry-specific organizations?
executives in business and industry
The problem of someone deriving a benefit from the actions of others is known as the
free rider problem
Most Americans have a ________ impression of interest groups.
generally negative
Which demographic characteristics have historically been the best predictors of interest group membership?
income and education
In elections, PAC funding shapes electoral outcomes by tending to favor which type of candidate?
incumbents
Political Action Committees give a large majority of their contributions to
incumbents of both parties.
The Occupy Movement that protested income inequality reached a crescendo of activism in 2011, but activity has quieted significantly since that time. This is an example of what facet of interest group membership?
intensity
The interaction of mutual interests involving interest groups, government officials, and members of Congress is known as the
iron triangle.
Which of the following best describes union membership in the United States since the 1960s?
it has declined dramatically
Which of the following are key factors in an interest groups' organizational environment?
leadership and opposition
For a range of reasons, children from working-class families are ________ to have been socialized to participate in traditional interest groups.
less likely
President Ulysses S. Grant coined which of the following terms after walking through the Willard Hotel and commenting on the presence of people who represented various interests and were waiting to speak to members of Congress?
lobbyist
Which of the following is NOT among the vital functions served by interest groups?
making money an issue in politic
One recent study indicated that college students are ________ to join a politically motivated interest group than their peers who do not attend college.
more than twice as likely
All of the following are tenets of pluralist theory EXCEPT that
policy-making is an elite business, staffed by the powerful and highly educated.
Separate entities formed by interest groups whose specific goal is to raise and spend money to influence election outcomes are known as
political action committees
Which of the following BEST describes the emphasis of the Christian Coalition's platform?
promotion of "pro-family" values
Belief in a group's cause is an example of which type of incentive?
purposive
Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are motivated primarily by ________ incentives.
purposive
The theory that it does not make economic sense for someone to participate in collective action when they can receive a benefit without participating is known as
rational choice theory
Which type of incentive for joining interest groups is closely linked to Robert Putnam's idea of social capital?
solidary
Which of the following occupations are represented by labor unions?
teachers and tradespeople
All of these are examples of public interest groups EXCEPT
the AFL-CIO.
Which religious interest organization was instrumental in Ronald Reagan's 1980 election to the presidency?
the moral majority
For what reason is a foreign interest MOST likely to lobby the U.S. government?
trade policies
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce represents a collective group of large and small businesses; it is an example of which type of interest group?
umbrella organization
As opposed to pluralist theory, elite theory posits that
wealthy, educated individuals control the direction of major policy.
