Economist Mancur Olson concluded that groups
exercise too much power in the American system.
increase the flexibility of government.
can have their benefits reduced by concerted political opposition.
are shown to have too much power when examined individually.
help the government break away from long-term or previous commitments and apply funding to new problems or issues.
The theory that society's interests are most effectively represented through group action is
republicanism.
constitutionalism.
elitist theory.
pluralist theory.
interest-group liberalism.
A basic reason for the existence of so many interest groups in the United States is
the American tradition of free association.
the extent of diverse interests in American society.
America's federal system of government.
the separation of powers in American government.
All these answers are correct.
The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) ultimately led to the creation of
Super PACs.
PACs.
election reform.
independent-expenditure-committees (IECs).
the AARP.
The most fully organized interests are those that have which of the following as their primary purpose?
agriculture
economic activity
civil liberties
labor reform
reform of government
The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
allows corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited funds on campaigns.
limits PACs by reducing the amount of money they can raise through contributions by small donors.
has forced candidates for office and elected officials to make public the amounts of campaign contributions they have received from PACs and which PACs make those donations.
has strengthened the argument that PACs constitute a better system of campaign finance than one based on wealthy donors.
has forced corporations and labor unions to legally divorce themselves from the PACs they sponsor.
A purposive incentive is defined as
a goal of direct economic gain.
the opportunity to contribute to a worthy goal or purpose.
a goal benefiting a specific group.
any common purpose that brings groups together.
corporate profit.
Citizens' interest groups are distinguished from economic interest groups by the fact that
their leaders are elected by secret ballot of the group's members.
their members receive no direct economic benefit from attainment of the group's goals.
they do not lobby government officials directly, but rely instead on public service announcements to get their views across to society.
they always pursue goals in which there is a high level of agreement among society members.
An interest group that focuses on policy benefits for senior citizens would be an example of
a philosophical interest group.
an ideological group.
a professional group.
a business group.
a single-issue group.
Which of the following groups primarily uses litigation as its lobbying method?
NRA
ACLU
NAACP
AARP
NEA
Why have issue networks become more prevalent?
the increasing power of corporate lobbying
the increasing diversity of interest groups
the increasing influence of PACs
the instability of candidates' positions
the increasing complexity of policy problems
Some groups pursue collective goods. A collective good is one that
cannot be selectively granted or denied to individuals; it must be shared.
is provided by a public service organization.
is secured by the president.
is secured by Congress.
None of these answers is correct.
The situation in which individuals are tempted not to contribute to a cause because they will get the benefits even if they do not participate is called the
size factor.
free-rider problem.
special-interest paradox.
disincentive factor.
zero-sum game.
In an effort to overcome the free-rider problem, noneconomic groups have
deliberately restricted the size of their membership.
joined up with economic groups.
convinced government to limit the distribution of public goods to those who have contributed to the group's efforts.
used Internet resources and computer-assisted mailing lists to target potential donors.
adopted taxes for nonmembers.
Roughly how many American workers currently belong to unions?
one in two
one in four
one in eight
one in six
one in ten
Economic groups have an advantage over noneconomic groups because
they nearly always have larger memberships.
they are organized primarily for political purposes.
they have better leadership.
they have greater access to financial resources.
their members are committed to their causes.
"Agency capture" occurs when
a regulatory agency funnels money back into the lobbying organizations that are seeking policy changes.
regulatory agencies side with the industries they are supposed to regulate rather than with the public.
the executive branch takes back control of a regulatory agency by passing regulation to prevent undue influence by lobbying organizations.
a regulatory agency must be dismantled because it has become corrupted.
an election results in the replacement of an agency's leadership through appointive positions under a new president.
A flaw in pluralism theory is the fact that
the interest group system is unrepresentative because some interests are far better organized and more powerful than others.
the public interest is never served by policies that promote special interests.
larger groups always prevail politically over smaller groups.
political parties better represent different interests than do interest groups.
Which citizens' group did a Fortune magazine survey rank as the nation's most powerful lobbying group?
the NAACP
the AFL-CIO
the AARP
MADD
Common Cause
An amicus brief
is a written document in which a group explains to a court its position on a legal dispute the court is handling.
is a written document in which an interest group lays out its policy preference for targeted lawmakers.
prevents a lobbyist group from making campaign donations to policy makers over a specific issue.
provides evidence for prosecutors of an illegal monetary relationship between a lawmaker and an interest group or PAC.
prevents PACs from donating more than $5,000 to a single candidate during a primary election.
In acknowledging the dilemma inherent in group activity, James Madison
argued that the free-rider problem would hurt some groups more than others.
claimed that government could listen to all groups, but should only enact policies that promote the interests of majority groups.
worried that government would be overly dominated by groups, but recognized that a free society is obliged to permit the advocacy of self-interest.
argued that government must restrict the activities of groups, so that political parties could act as the major instrument of democracy.
Effective inside lobbying is based upon
countering the aims of other groups.
providing useful and persuasive information to key officials.
mobilizing the group's members.
bribing or threatening officials.
using the media to exert pressure.
PACs tend to contribute the most money to
incumbents.
challengers.
Independents.
liberal Democrats.
liberal Republicans.
A main difference between iron triangles and issue networks is that
an iron triangle includes members of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, while issue networks bypass the judicial branch.
issue networks involve a stable group of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists, while iron triangles exclude lobbyists in an attempt to reach impartial decisions.
issue networks are generally less stable than iron triangles, in that the members of an issue network may change as the issue develops.
issue networks, being less formal, rely on outside lobbying only, while iron triangles use inside lobbying only.
Political scientist Theodore Lowi has questioned pluralist theory by suggesting that
special interests should never receive benefits from government.
there is no concept of the public interest in a system that gives special interests the ability to determine the policies affecting them.
policies that favor a series of minorities are inherently fairer than policies that ignore small groups in favor of a majority.
the sum of people's special interests is a rough approximation of society's collective interest.
Madisonian theory has created a perfect balance of special interest and common good.
In recent decades, lobbyists in Washington, D.C. have increasingly
targeted the executive branch in their efforts to influence policy decisions.
relied on coercive tactics, such as threats of withdrawing election support.
worked to defeat incumbent members of Congress in order to replace them with members who would be more supportive.
relied exclusively on inside lobbying as the means of gaining their policy goals.
ignored the judicial branch as a means of influencing policy decisions.
The influence of interest groups through the courts occurs through
initiating lawsuits.
lobbying for certain judges to be appointed to the bench.
outside lobbying only.
both initiating lawsuits and lobbying for certain judges to be appointed to the bench.
The term iron triangle refers to
a tightly-knit set of lobbying groups.
the relationship among the Congress, the military, and defense contractors.
a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who are concerned with promoting a particular interest.
the strategy of lobbying all three branches of government simultaneously.
a corrupt relationship among the president, Congress, and the Supreme Court.
An informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem is
an iron triangle.
an issue network.
a caucus.
a policy system.
an ideological network.
Outside lobbying does NOT include
developing and maintaining close contacts with policymakers.
the use of campaign contributions to legislators who favor the interest group.
cultivating favorable coverage from the news media.
targeting group resources on key election races.
rousing citizens to contact their elected officials and express their support.
