Exam 3: Interest Groups

The organization which represents petroleum producers and is dominated by the major oil companies is:

Citizens who are well-informed and are willing to communicate with members of the legislature can have an important impact on public policy.

In the late 1990s, nearly one-third of the members of the Texas legislature had personal financial ties to oil producers.

The Texas Ethics Commission has proven to be an effective watchdog for the public interest.

The efforts to regulate lobbying activities prior to the 1991 Ethnics Bill were ineffective because:

Lobby is an effort to influence public policy by directly communicating with policymakers.

Which of the following issues would be of relatively little concern to the type of interest groups classified as public interest groups?

What is the primary difference between interest groups and political parties?

Name three of the more influential interest groups in Texas? What type of group is each?

Public Citizen Texas is an example of a public interest group.

Co-option is the process in which:

Which of the following is not generally classified as an economic interest group?

Operating a phone bank, posting signs for a candidate, and distributing literature would be an example of what kind of political activity?

Rulings by the federal courts have been a significant means for "underdog" groups to gain the attention of policy makers and to achieve political goals, especially with regard to minority rights.

Which of the following applies to interest groups?

The insurance industry's co-option of the State Board of Insurance in 1993 led to the legislature abolishing the Board and giving the governor the power to elect the Insurance Commissioner.

The process by which state agencies become protectors of private interests rather than the public interest is called co-option.

The two main groups representing Hispanics and Afro American have worked out a formal agreement to support each other.

Which of the following statements does not apply to both politically oriented interest groups and political parties?

The case study of the public opinion influencing efforts of the cable television companies and the telephone companies illustrates which of the following: