Deck 8: Interest Groups and Social Movements: Collective Action, Power, and Representation

Question 1

David Truman, in his 1962 book The Governmental Process, noted that the federalists were, ironically, an important example of a ______.

A) runaway faction
B) tyrannical majority
C) grassroots movement
D) political pressure group

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following, because of its efforts to right a perceived social wrong, would be considered an interest group that spawned a social movement?

A) American Banking Association (ABA)
B) American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
C) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
D) American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In order for mortgage-backed securities to provide a return to their customers, ______.

A) home prices had to go down
B) interest rates had to go up
C) home prices had to go up
D) interest rates had to go down

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following describes the paradox of factions?

A) While they are dangerous, they are also easy to legislate through laws at the federal and state levels.
B) They may be potentially dangerous, but the Constitution virtually guarantees their formation.
C) Factions are inevitable, but they can be legally prohibited through applying the Constitution.
D) Democracies require factions in order to operate efficiently and effectively at a national level.

Question 5

Voluntary associations of people that come together with an agreed-upon set of political and policy objectives and who attempt to pull the levers of political power in the service of these defined goals are known as ______.

A) citizen counsels
B) political action committees
C) social movements
D) interest groups

Question 6

Associations of individuals that come together to change things or to keep things from changing by calling attention to a set of perceived injustices or wrongs in order to get policy makers to act and/or to educate the people are best described as ______.

A) citizen counsels
B) political action committees
C) social movements
D) interest groups

Question 7

James Madison realized that to eliminate factions, a republic must also ______.

A) highly restrict the liberties of its citizens
B) encourage citizens to exercise their civil rights
C) discourage citizens from participating in elections
D) encourage civic duty and responsibility

Question 8

Members of interest groups and social movements often resort to ______ to achieve their goals.

A) membership dues
B) recruitment efforts
C) GOTV activities
D) different tactics

Question 9

Because banks could not produce enough loans to supply the mortgage-backed securities market, they began to ______.

A) take increasingly larger risks
B) forge mortgage documents
C) decline mortgage customers
D) approve loans only for the wealthy

Question 10

A problem with mortgage-backed securities (MBS) was ______.

A) they were too mathematically complicated for the average banker to understand
B) the relationship between the borrower and the holder of the loan was totally disconnected
C) average citizens were basing their home mortgages on complicated financial products
D) they became too popular as a tool for financing high-valued properties

Question 11

Political scientist E. E. Schattschneider thought that there was a(n) ______ in the way power is used.

A) privileging of the needs of ordinary Americans
B) fluctuating relationship
C) expert skillset
D) upper-class bias

Question 12

James Madison addressed the problem of factions in Federalist ______.

A) 7
B) 10
C) 8
D) 15

Question 13

Madison's solution to the problem of factions was to ______.

A) discourage their formation
B) encourage competing factions
C) restrict the civil liberties of citizens
D) radically expand the Bill of Rights

Question 14

In Democracy in America, French philosopher and sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about his observations of American life when he visited the United States in 1831-1832. He found that the Americans were ______.

A) plagued by an inequality of conditions
B) more apt than people in other nations to want to join groups and associations
C) less religious than the French
D) very diverse in their opinions

Question 15

The danger in interest groups and social movements is always one of ______.

A) factions that trample on the rights of others
B) societal change that occurs too rapidly
C) competing interests that cause conflict and strife
D) expanding communities that change the will of the majority

Question 16

The roots of the financial crisis in the first decade of the 21st century were in the ______ market.

A) housing
B) stock
C) commodities
D) bond

Question 17

Political scientist Robert Dahl, in confronting the question of how a democratic system works amid an inequality of resources, focused his attention on the theory of ______.

A) elitism
B) nationalism
C) pluralism
D) constitutionalism

Question 18

Voluntary associations share common traits in that they ______.

A) operate under congressional and federal authority
B) tend to form naturally and without any logical reason
C) are granted articles of incorporation by the state
D) get their rights to organize from the First Amendment

Question 19

According to James Madison, which of the following posed the greatest danger?

A) social inequality
B) inequality of wealth
C) civic inequity
D) failure to participate

Question 20

What policy decision did banks want the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department to make?

A) a large national bailout
B) lower interest rates
C) higher interest rates
D) tighter monetary policies

Question 21

A problem with collective goods is that people will be happy to benefit from something they can enjoy or profit from, without contributing any time, effort, or money of their own to achieve that good. Such individuals are called ______.

A) lazy slackers
B) free riders
C) the power elite
D) exploiters

Question 22

The set of issues to which government officials, voters, and the public attend is known as the ______ agenda.

A) partisan
B) interim
C) policy
D) personal

Question 23

The theory of governmental influence that focuses on the advantages that certain interests have in the political process based on the unequal distribution of economic and political power is called ______ theory.

A) pluralist
B) capitalist
C) elitist
D) centrist

Question 24

What term describes those individuals who enjoy collective goods without contributing to them?

A) criminals
B) pacifists
C) free riders
D) communists

Question 25

In the end, which of the following was Congress's policy decision regarding the bailout?

A) They passed a gutted bailout.
B) They passed a full bailout bill.
C) They denied the bailout.
D) They reached a compromise.

Question 26

Interest groups are often categorized and analyzed according to the ______.

A) demographics of their membership as it compares to the overall goals of the group
B) common traits that members share when organizing and activating towards success
C) way in which they recruit and motivate members in order to maximize political results
D) broader goals that they set out to achieve and on whose behalf they hope to succeed

Question 27

Which term best describes goods that are made available only to those who join or contribute to a group?

A) collective benefits
B) selective benefits
C) social benefits
D) material rewards

Question 28

The theory of pluralism is one in which ______.

A) competition among groups serves to keep any one of them in check
B) the growth of interest groups must be suppressed by the government
C) individual voices matter more than those of interest groups
D) large interest groups are encouraged to operate at the expense of minorities

Question 29

By 2008, which of the following facts was becoming clear?

A) Bankers failed to agree on the need for a bailout.
B) Large numbers of Americans were wary of using taxpayer dollars to fund a bailout.
C) The $700 billion dollar bailout plan was Wall Street's only hope.
D) A grassroots movement was demanding a financial bailout solution.

Question 30

In the aftermath of the financial crisis and Wall Street bailout debate, many Americans were calling for ______ reform.

A) legislative
B) constitutional
C) financial
D) socialist

Question 31

C. Wright Mills noted that the exercise of power may be seen ______.

A) not only in actions that are taken but in inaction or the prevention of actions
B) only in the hands of the people at the grassroots political level
C) in the actions of elected lawmakers who act on the beliefs of their constituents
D) in the actions taken by large social movements that control the political agenda

Question 32

In evaluating the membership of groups, most of the evidence points to ______.

A) the declining influence of elitist memberships and increased democratization
B) an increasing movement toward balanced membership within the groups
C) rising influence of minority groups, particularly Hispanics and African Americans
D) a continued overrepresentation by the elite, powerful, and wealthy

Question 33

According to the theory of pluralism, the Occupy Wall Street Movement ______.

A) distracted from American democracy
B) acted as a counterweight to the financial firms
C) was a dangerous threat to the public welfare
D) had little if any true impact on the democratic process

Question 34

Which of the following could most readily be classified as a collective good?

A) clean air
B) private college education
C) AARP discounts
D) social networking

Question 35

Many people join professional associations with the hope of networking with or meeting influential people in their field. This would be an example of which of the following?

A) collective benefits
B) material rewards
C) selective benefits
D) social benefits

Question 36

According to the research of C. Wright Mills, the greatest challenge is found in the ______.

A) grassroots movements of individuals in a democracy
B) nation's defense industry and its allies in government
C) left and right fringe factions that differ from the center
D) nation's congressional caucuses that control legislation

Question 37

A group composed of the top echelons of people in the business world in government and in the military is known as the ______.

A) republican center
B) democratic base
C) grassroots constituency
D) power elite

Question 38

Bryan's extended family from out of town come to watch the fireworks display at the local park to celebrate the town's bicentennial, and get to enjoy the show even though they do not pay taxes in that town. Bryan's extended family could be considered ______.

A) protesters
B) free riders
C) social movement members
D) interest group members

Question 39

Political action that occurs when individuals contribute energy, time, or money to a larger group goal is called ______.

A) individual attraction
B) collective action
C) affirmative action
D) persuasive contribution

Question 40

In the years following the financial crisis, the AARP argued for ______.

A) tighter financial controls
B) a reduction in social benefits
C) a strengthening of Social Security
D) a strengthening of Medicaid and health care

Question 41

How did Congress respond to the impending threat of financial collapse brought on by the housing market bust?

A) Congress passed a stop-gap bill allowing the stock market to recover slowly.
B) Congress could not get a bill passed to bailout the banks.
C) Congress passed a fully funded bailout bill.
D) Congress allowed the banks to raise prices at an unprecedented rate to recover quickly.

Question 42

The coordinated (and mutually beneficial) activities of interest groups, Congress, and the bureaucracy to achieve shared policy goals, sometimes against the general interests of society or specific groups within it, best describes ______.

A) agency capture
B) the iron triangle
C) internal lobbying
D) illegal lobbying

Question 43

Which of the following academics developed an influential theory regarding the logic of interest group participation by studying why people choose not to participate?

A) David Truman
B) Mancur Olson
C) Robert Dahl
D) C. Wright Mills

Question 44

When interest groups try to influence both whether or not the Supreme Court will agree to hear a case, as well as how the justices should rule once they do agree to hear it, they do what?

A) file amicus curiae briefs
B) lobby the justices in their chambers
C) take collective action
D) go public with their message

Question 45

When the NAACP used the federal judiciary to bring an end to legal segregation in the United States, it did so ______.

A) by appealing to First Amendment freedoms
B) through acts of civil disobedience
C) by lobbying the Supreme Court justices
D) by sponsoring litigation

Question 46

Lobbyists provide information to members of Congress that will help them make decisions on a piece of legislation, as well as push their interest group's agenda. This is testament to the fact that lobbying is ______.

A) only meant for academics
B) a complex and nuanced process
C) a public good
D) inherently manipulative

Question 47

Collective action can be best described as ______.

A) individuals committing themselves to a group goal and investing time, money, and effort to see that goal realized
B) sets of issues that government official, voters, and the general public have an interest in and work to advance
C) the theory that describes how political power can be distributed among various competing groups in a way that keeps them all in check
D) tangible benefits that members of a group receive for their membership or contributions

Question 48

How do interest groups most often try to influence judicial decisions?

A) direct testimony
B) indirect lobbying
C) amicus curiae briefs
D) directly sponsoring cases

Question 49

Which of the following groups continues to be overrepresented in groups based on membership?

A) white males
B) minorities, specifically women
C) minorities, specifically Asians
D) the elite, powerful, and wealthy

Question 50

In contrast to iron triangles, issue networks are often ______.

A) permanent
B) stronger
C) temporary
D) weaker

Question 51

Most recent efforts to regulate lobbying have focused on ______.

A) making the process more transparent
B) passing regulations that limit the number of lobbyists
C) limiting the amount of influence a lobbyist may have
D) regulating the degree to which lobbyists may see politicians in office

Question 52

Two ways in which lobbyists use information to try to advance their interest group's positions are ______.

A) testifying at congressional committee meetings and providing members of Congress with research reports
B) contributing to a Congresswoman's reelection campaign fund and making sure she gets reelected
C) introducing members of Congress to influential elites and paying for their dinners
D) canvassing a neighborhood to advocate for their group's issues and appearing on television to broadcast the interest group's message

Question 53

What type of lobbying are lobbyists practicing when they contact members of Congress (or their staff) directly to advocate for their group's position?

A) coercive
B) inside
C) outside
D) agency

Question 54

Which of the following bests describes when agencies tasked with regulating businesses, industries, or other interest groups are populated by individuals with close ties to the very firms that they are supposed to regulate?

A) inside lobbying
B) purposive lobbying
C) agency capture
D) executive collusion

Question 55

Recent research into interest group behavior shows that although there has been a proliferation of groups and movements focusing on civil rights, women's interests, and the elderly, there has been ______.

A) an increase in cooperation between groups on both sides of the ideological spectrum
B) a decline in grassroots lobbying
C) a documented and rising instance of racism and sexism in society
D) a continued overrepresentation of the elite, powerful, and wealthy

Question 56

Successful lobbyists must have or gain ______ representatives and senators in Congress, in addition to building relationships and donating money.

A) a history of quid pro quos with
B) special favors from
C) power over
D) access to

Question 57

The revolving door phenomenon refers to ______.

A) former government officials going to work for lobbying firms, and government agencies recruiting former lobbyists for their experience and expertise
B) the way in which an outgoing administration is replaced by an incoming administration
C) how insiders and elites pave the way for each other's success
D) how interest groups work together for common goals and agendas, often displacing each other in the process

Question 58

Interest groups vary on the basis of their ______.

A) name recognition, intensity of their base, and desire to achieve
B) membership, collective goals, and desire to achieve them
C) wealth, political clout, and access to governmental officials
D) size, political influence, and ability to persuade members of Congress

Question 59

Purposive benefits are described as the ______.

A) interaction with government officials in order to advance a group's goals
B) benefits made available only to people who join or contribute to a group
C) satisfaction of working with other to achieve a common goal or purpose
D) benefits individuals attach to forming personal relationships for their own sake

Question 60

Although Stan did not actively participate in the protests that led to better working conditions at his job, he is now enjoying the benefits of the improvements along with those who did actively participate. Stan could be considered a(n) ______.

A) slacker
B) exploiter
C) free rider
D) privileged

Question 61

When a group manufactures or presents the facade of grassroots support that does not really exist on its own or at least would not have happened without the "purchase" of support by the lobbying firm itself, political scientists refer to this as ______.

A) outside lobbying
B) grassroots movement
C) astroturf lobbying
D) internal lobbying

Question 62

Efforts that focus on reaching the constituents themselves rather than their representatives are described as ______ lobbying.

A) inside
B) outside
C) governmental
D) agency

Question 63

Which of the following groups would act on the behalf of the French Government to keep their members apprised of policy discussions during the appropriations process in Congress?

A) economic interest
B) public interest
C) government interest
D) social movement

Question 64

Which of the following is a concern for social movements?

A) The protesters will be ignored and no change will occur.
B) The protesters will not be able to raise enough funds for their candidate of choice.
C) The powerful elite will out campaign the protesters.
D) The protesters will not get their message to Congress.

Question 65

A group advocating for the reduction of taxes on the sale of organic vegetables would be classified as which type of group?

A) economic interest
B) public interest
C) government interest
D) social movement

Question 66

The founder of the Canadian activist group Adbusters, Kalle Lasn, created a blog entry in July 2011 that many credit as the origin of which movement?

A) Black Lives Matter
B) Occupy Wall Street
C) Hands Up, Don't Shoot
D) Black Twitter

Question 67

Webs of influence among interest groups, policy makers, and policy advocates are known as ______.

A) iron triangles
B) agency capture
C) governmental lobbies
D) issue networks

Question 68

Who suggested to the Occupy Wall Street group that it might be more beneficial to convert from a social movement group to an interest group?

A) protesters
B) lobbyists
C) members
D) pundits

Question 69

Which of the following groups acts on behalf of the collective interests of a broad group of individuals, including nonmembers of the group?

A) economic interest
B) public interest
C) government interest
D) social movement

Question 70

Interest group success may best be determined by ______.

A) the fact that the movement came together at all
B) how many laws were changed
C) how little money was spent
D) how many members joined the movement

Question 71

In September 2011, nearly one thousand people gathered to protest against the concentration of wealth at the very top of American society. Where did the protesters gather?

A) Central Park
B) Zuccotti Park
C) Times Square
D) Broadway

Question 72

Social movement success may best be determined by ______.

A) the fact that the movement came together at all
B) how many laws were changed
C) how little money was spent
D) how many members joined the movement

Question 73

The right of a citizen to lobby, or petition the government for a redress of grievances, was guaranteed by which Amendment?

A) first
B) second
C) third
D) fourth

Question 74

A group advocating for the reduction of air pollution to save the environment would be classified as which type of group?

A) economic interest
B) public interest
C) government interest
D) social movement

Question 75

According to data presented by opensecrets.org, the ______ sector accounted for the single largest group of contributions when analyzed by sector.

A) financial
B) retail
C) technology
D) industrial

Question 76

Mary and her fellow demonstrators are holding their state senator against his will until their demands for tax law changes are met. They know this is against the law and they may be arrested, but are fervent believers in their cause. Mary and her fellow protesters are participating in ______.

A) civil disobedience
B) a protest
C) indirect lobbying
D) a social justice movement

Question 77

Which of the following tactics are most likely to be used by social movements?

A) protest and civil disobedience
B) letter writing campaigns
C) demonstrations outside of federal building
D) financial donations to candidates in local elections

Question 78

Successful lobbying often depends on ______.

A) knowledge and organization
B) personal relationships and access to decision makers
C) how many members join the group
D) how many incentives people have to join the group

Question 79

Which of the following words best captures the tension between representation by individual Americans and the outcomes of the political process in which they engage?

A) democracy
B) liberty
C) power
D) money

Question 80

Which of the following is a main contributing factor for social movement failures?

A) They have outsized goals and lack sufficient power.
B) They fail to recruit enough members to draw attention to their cause.
C) They fail to engage with the powerful elite that they are protesting against.
D) They use off-putting techniques that often include violence.