Question 1

All interest groups need to recruit and retain members in order to achieve their political goals.Explain what the so-called free-rider problem is and why it makes recruitment and retention difficult for interest groups.Drawing on the histories of Moveon.org and the American Association of Retired People, discuss how successful interest groups are able to overcome the free-rider problem.In your answer, be sure to define the different kinds of selective incentives interest groups provide to their members.

Accepted Answer

The answer of All interest groups need to recruit and...

Question 2

In an iron triangle, the interest group

Accepted Answer

A) is legally excluded from any interactions with congressional committees and administrative agencies. 
B) provides campaign contributions to members of Congress and lobbies for larger administrative agency budgets. 
C) organizes grassroots mobilizations against administrative agencies and congressional incumbents. 
D) files formal lawsuits and amicus briefs against administrative agencies and congressional incumbents.

Question 3

When membership in an organization allows for a reduction in the price of museum tickets, it is an example of a

Accepted Answer

A) solidary benefit. 
B) promotion offer. 
C) material benefit. 
D) purposive benefit.

Question 4

Elite pluralism refers to the fact that

Accepted Answer

A) many important government officials in the United States are not elected by the American public. 
B) most American interest groups will only accept members who have a college degree and make above a certain amount of money each year. 
C) political leaders in the United States have a wide range of views and are not exclusively liberal or conservative. 
D) economic elites have used group politics to achieve considerably more influence than mass-based forces in the American political process.

Question 5

The ________ regularly uses litigation to challenge state and federal laws that restrict the rights of individuals and groups.

Accepted Answer

A) New Politics movement 
B) Tea Party 
C) Department of Justice 
D) American Civil Liberties Union

Question 6

The major organizational factors shared by most interest groups are

Accepted Answer

A) very close links with the national news media, direct ties to a member of Congress, a headquarters in Washington, D.C., and members. 
B) very close links with the national news media, connections with Hollywood, direct ties to the president of the United States, and members. 
C) leadership, money, an agency or office, and members. 
D) leadership, a rigid hierarchical structure, access to loans from the Federal Reserve, and members.

Question 7

The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act

Accepted Answer

A) expanded the definition of the organization and individuals that must register to lobby. 
B) narrowed the definition of the organization and individuals that must register to lobby. 
C) eliminated the requirement that lobbyists register with Congress. 
D) was struck down by the Supreme Court as a violation of the constitutional right to privacy.

Question 8

Which of the following is an "outsider" strategy?

Accepted Answer

A) lobbying Congress 
B) litigating a case in court 
C) lobbying the executive branch 
D) "going public"

Question 9

The practice of lobbying is protected by

Accepted Answer

A) the First Amendment. 
B) state and federal laws dating from the 1930s. 
C) internal rules of Congress. 
D) a 1961 Supreme Court decision.

Question 10

Two laws that have played an important role in opening the bureaucratic process to interest group influence are the

Accepted Answer

A) 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990. 
B) Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990 and the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. 
C) 1946 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act and the 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act. 
D) 1946 Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act and the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.

Question 11

Many online organized interest groups

Accepted Answer

A) require a formal application with personal references in order to become a member. 
B) require a background check in order to become a member. 
C) require advance payment of one year of membership dues. 
D) do not require any formal membership beyond signing up for an online newsletter or signing an online petition.

Question 12

Rather than offering its members ________ benefits, online advocacy organizations often offer their members ________ benefits.

Accepted Answer

A) purposive; material and informational 
B) informational; material and purposive 
C) material; informational and purposive 
D) informational and purposive; material

Question 13

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

Accepted Answer

A) Federalist Papers, no.7. 
B) Federalist Papers, no.10. 
C) Federalist Papers, no.51. 
D) Antifederalist Papers, no.78.

Question 14

When a coalition of credit card companies forms an interest group called the Partnership to Protect Consumer Credit, this suggests that

Accepted Answer

A) credit card companies are interested in the public good. 
B) private interests are hiding behind the ideals of public interests. 
C) public interest groups are now actively involving private corporations. 
D) the free-rider problem does not apply to private corporations.

Question 15

The term stakeholder refers to

Accepted Answer

A) members of the National Butcher's Guild. 
B) organizations affected by a government policy. 
C) corporations that sell government bonds or securities. 
D) individual activists that participate in the New Politics movement.

Question 16

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has approximately how many members?

Accepted Answer

A) 100,000 
B) 1 million 
C) 5 million 
D) 12 million

Question 17

The AARP began in

Accepted Answer

A) 1932 as an effort to convince Congress to enact Social Security. 
B) 1958 as an effort to find affordable health insurance for retired teachers. 
C) 1965 as an effort to push for the passage of Medicare. 
D) 2001 as an effort to prevent the Bush administration's tax cuts.

Question 18

Another name for lobbying is

Accepted Answer

A) stalking. 
B) mobilizing. 
C) petitioning. 
D) litigating.

Question 19

One important difference between traditional interest groups and online activist organizations is that

Accepted Answer

A) traditional interest groups typically focus on a single issue, while online advocacy organizations are often issue generalists that have a wide umbrella of issues for which they lobby. 
B) online activist organizations typically focus on a single issue, while traditional interest groups are often issue generalists that have a wide umbrella of issues for which they lobby. 
C) traditional interest groups typically focus on influencing government action, while online activist organizations often focus on influencing private individuals and corporations. 
D) online activist organizations typically focus on influencing government action, while traditional interest groups often focus on influencing private individuals and corporations.

Question 20

A loose, informal relationship of public officials, interest groups, and activists who are all concerned with the same policies is called

Accepted Answer

A) an iron triangle. 
B) a membership association. 
C) the New Politics movement. 
D) an issue network.

Exam 11: Groups and Interests