Interest Groups: Chapter 11

The best description of the ideal of pluralism is that

interest groups should be free to compete for governmental influences

Since the 1930s, the number and scale of interest groups at the national level has

dramatically increased.

Organized interest groups enhance American democracy by

representing the interest of large numbers of people and encouraging political participation.

If a person enjoys the benefits of a group's collective efforts but does not contribute to those efforts, he or she is called a

free rider.

How the Constitution balances the threat posed by organized interest with the need for liberty is discussed in the

Federalist papers, no. 10.

Extra Credit: What distinguishes lobbying from other strategies of influences?

Lobbyists try to exert pressure directly on government officials themselves.

Lobbying is

an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature.

A benefit that is sought by an interest group and that once achieved cannot be denied to a nonmember is called a

collective good.

Interest groups are concerned with the ________ of government, while political parties are concerned with the ________ of government.

legitimacy; power

The Sierra Club is a(n) _______ group.

public interest

Members of interest groups in the United States are typically people

with higher levels of income and education.