Exam 6: Interest Groups and Lobbying

How well do organized interests in Texas represent the needs of average Texans? Do organized interests contribute to problems such as hyperpluralism and polarization?

Gaining access to politicians through personal connections is a violation of Texas state laws.

Texas has strong laws dealing with lobbying from former government officials.

On average, incumbents in the Texas House of Representatives are able to fund-raise ________ challengers.

Texas has ________ laws dealing with lobbying by former government officials.

Some of Texas's biggest lobby spenders are groups that include the interests of consumers, the environment, or human services.

The practice of combining several individual campaign contributions into one larger contribution from a group in order to increase the group's impact is known as

Scandals about the "steak men," Bo Pilgrim, and Gib Lewis resulted in

A lobbyist is an individual employed by a political action committee who tries to influence governmental decisions on behalf of that group.

Interest groups in Texas are NOT allowed to run paid advertisements in the media.

Which is NOT a reason for forming a political action committee?

Redistricting and scandal are the two greatest threats to an incumbent's electoral advantage.

Which of the following is NOT a typical threat to an incumbent running for re-election?

Lobbyists can do all of the following EXCEPT

Dark money is political money where the donors of the money do NOT have to be disclosed.

What did Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim do in 1989?

Which interest is NOT represented in a list of the top interest groups in Texas?

One important way for interest groups to gain access to those in Texas government is to employ ________ as lobbyists.

Lobbyists may gain access to legislators by building support for an issue among their constituents.

Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment enabled people to join together and seek policy change in a number of ways EXCEPT by