Deck 10: Interest Groups

Question 1

If a group of people supporting housing equity organized themselves and attempted to affect policymakers, they would have formed which of the following?

A) An interest group
B) A political party
C) A lobby
D) A civil interest group
E) A social movement

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The American Farm Bureau Federation, which tries to influence public policy decisions that affect farmers, is an example of which of the following?

A) A super PAC
B) A PAC
C) A cabinet department
D) A political party
E) An interest group

Answer 2

E

Question 3

When we talk about a lobbyist, we talk about a person or group that is which of the following?

A) Part of an association of individuals
B) Someone or something that attempts to influence legislation and the administrative decisions of government
C) Inevitably associated with one of the two major parties
D) A member of Congress who challenges the majority position
E) A member of the president's cabinet who argues against any change

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is another name for an interest group?

A) Union
B) NGO
C) Lobby
D) Party
E) PAC

Question 5

A veterans' group publicizes reports of excessive wait times at VA (US Department of Veterans Affairs) hospitals and resulting harm to patients. Which function is the veterans' group performing?

A) Education
B) Program monitoring
C) Agenda building
D) Representation
E) Issue definition

Question 6

Many interest groups employ which of the following, who are hired to represent the group's interests to the government?

A) Members of Congress
B) Members of the White House Executive Office of the President
C) Judges
D) Lobbyists
E) Activists

Question 7

Which of the following statements regarding the existence of interest groups is true?

A) Public-interest groups and civil rights make up a large percentage of interest groups lobbying Congress.
B) Interest group leaders are from the lower socioeconomic groups.
C) Interest groups demonstrate the validity of the elite theory model of the U.S. political system.
D) Interest groups can be problematic for democracy because members of the middle or upper classes often dominate them.
E) Interest groups are required by the Constitution.

Question 8

In recent years, private sector union membership has done which of the following?

A) It has plateaued.
B) It has completely disappeared.
C) It has doubled.
D) It has tripled.
E) It has declined.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes an interest group?

A) Any association of individuals
B) A group of people who want to gain control of the government
C) An organization that actively attempts to influence government policy
D) Any organization that requires members to pay dues
E) An organization set up to support a particular candidate for public office

Question 10

Most interest groups have a bias toward which of the following?

A) The middle and upper classes
B) Environmental groups
C) The common good
D) The political right
E) The political left

Question 11

Groups specially formed to raise and contribute funds to support electoral candidates and that are subject to campaign finance laws are known as which of the following?

A) Political action committees
B) Unions
C) Special interests
D) 501 (c)(3) organizations
E) 501 (c)(4) organizations

Question 12

What role do interest groups play in educating policymakers about political issues?

A) Interest groups are never considered a valid source of information because they are so biased.
B) So few people are members of interest groups that any communication policymakers receive from such groups is considered insignificant.
C) They are an important source of political information.
D) They tend to confuse policymakers and often alienate them.
E) They serve to overwhelm policymakers with too much information.

Question 13

What types of interest groups are defined as economic interest groups?

A) Business, labor, and public interest groups
B) Labor, agricultural, and environmental groups
C) Business and labor groups and foreign governments
D) Business, labor, and professional groups
E) Professional and agricultural groups and foreign governments

Question 14

A free rider is which of the following?

A) An interest group member
B) A participant in a social movement
C) Someone granted free passage to Washington DC to demonstrate
D) Someone who benefits from the actions of a group without joining it
E) A civil rights activist

Question 15

Some argue that the interest group system is most likely to leave out which of the following groups?

A) Poor Americans
B) Workers in the public sector
C) Workers in the private sector
D) The agriculture industry
E) Small businesses

Question 16

Which of the following is an important idea of the pluralist theory?

A) Most interest groups work for the good of the majority.
B) The institutions of government will ignore interest groups regardless of their orientation.
C) Interest groups will ultimately fade from the political scene.
D) New interest groups naturally form when the need arises.
E) People join groups for benefits, regardless of current circumstances.

Question 17

Most Americans hate interest groups, except those that do which of the following?

A) Oppose terrorism
B) Speak on their behalf
C) Support environmental issues
D) Include children among their beneficiaries
E) Advocate reduced government spending

Question 18

Which of the following is a recent example of an interest group emerging to push for remedial action from government?

A) The Tea Party
B) The American Farm Bureau Federation after Congress banned GMO foods in the United States
C) Flint Rising and the Coalition for Clean Water, which emerged in Flint, Michigan, during its water crisis
D) Water You Fighting For, which emerged in Vermont after the Canadian Oil Pipeline leak
E) Lobbyists on Madison Avenue after the stock market crashed

Question 19

In general, why does the public tend to dislike interest groups?

A) They do not offer equal representation to all.
B) They only represent big business.
C) They take funding away from social services.
D) They are made up of one of the two major political parties.
E) They have a basis in socialism.

Question 20

Cesar Chavez's work to organize California workers into the United Farm Workers makes him an example of which of the following?

A) Primary mover
B) Policy maintainer
C) Interest group entrepreneur
D) Monitoring agent
E) Public proponent

Question 21

Which of the following best describes how the U.S. Constitution protects interest groups?

A) Through the First Amendment's right to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances"
B) Through the First Amendment's right to "peaceably assemble"
C) Through the Fourth Amendment's protection against illegal search and seizure
D) Through the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination
E) Through the First Amendment's right to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances" and the First Amendment's right to "peaceably assemble"

Question 22

People with which of the following characteristics are most likely to belong to interest groups?

A) A low income
B) An urgent need for government benefits
C) A high income
D) Retired
E) An interest in ideological issues

Question 23

The greater the potential number of members of a group, the more likely that individuals will do which of the following?

A) Contribute to the activities of the group
B) See the group as influential
C) Make a financial contribution
D) Decide to be free riders
E) Question the sincerity of commitment to the stated goals of the group or its leaders

Question 24

If a lobbyist is trying to convince a legislator to support a particular bill, one of the most valuable resources in doing so is which of the following?

A) A large budget
B) A small but very vocal membership
C) A long history of supporting that particular legislator
D) A large, politically active membership
E) A group of policy experts willing to draft legislation for the legislator

Question 25

Because the winning party will have a stronger voice than its opponent in policy decisions, elections inject some of the benefits of which of the following into the political system?

A) Economics
B) Majoritarianism
C) Liberalism
D) Pluralism
E) Republicanism

Question 26

Generating public pressure and awareness may do which of the following?

A) Convince policymakers that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the interest group's position
B) Mislead the public on environmental issues
C) Bypass the legislative process
D) Force bureaucrats to answer to congressional committees
E) Lobby lawmakers directly

Question 27

A critical thing to remember when considering the overrepresentation of business interests in Washington is which of the following?

A) They are frequently divided and mobilize to lobby against each other.
B) They are generally concerned about the public welfare.
C) They cannot engage in many forms of lobbying during election years.
D) They rarely have an influence on legislation except as it affects their narrow interests.
E) They lose a considerable amount of resources during election years.

Question 28

The main drawback of a protest activity as a tool in influencing the policymaking process is which of the following?

A) It is basically a short-term tool, whereas policymaking is a long-term process.
B) It almost always generates more opposition than support.
C) No one pays attention to protests.
D) It is illegal.
E) It often results in the arrest of interest group members.

Question 29

A lobbyist from the NRA (National Rifle Association) meeting with a member of Congress to discuss firearms legislation is an example of which of the following?

A) The free-rider problem
B) A party coalition
C) An indirect technique
D) A direct technique
E) A boycott

Question 30

Large interest groups are often difficult to organize for which of the following reasons?

A) They often do not represent compelling interests.
B) The Internet has not made it easier to convince individuals to join.
C) They usually suffer from diseconomies of scale.
D) As they grow in size, they attract more unfavorable publicity.
E) Many of their potential members prefer to let someone else shoulder the interest group's financial burden.

Question 31

Successful interest groups and their representatives try to cultivate long-term relationships with which of the following?

A) Foreign ambassadors
B) Legislators and government officials
C) Federal judges
D) Business leaders
E) Police commissioners and chiefs of police

Question 32

PAC donations come disproportionately from which of the following?

A) Religious or ethnic organizations
B) Public interest and consumer groups
C) Labor unions
D) Business and professional interests
E) Foreign countries

Question 33

The lobbyist's primary job involves which of the following?

A) Passing information on to his or her employers and policymakers
B) Assisting campaigns and organizing funding packets
C) Trading on favors
D) Mobilizing campaign contributors
E) Exchanging goods for services

Question 34

Direct techniques used by interest groups include which of the following?

A) Using YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to generate influence
B) Using public relations firms to polish their image with the public
C) Building alliances with other groups to increase their collective effectiveness
D) Using constituents to lobby Congress on behalf of an issue
E) Staging demonstrations, marches, and boycotts

Question 35

The number of lobbyists for which of the following industries has skyrocketed in recent years?

A) Education
B) Accounting
C) Transportation
D) Health care
E) Travel

Question 36

A strategy that relies on a group representative's personal contact with policymakers is which of the following?

A) Grassroots lobbying
B) Coalition building
C) Information campaigns
D) Direct lobbying
E) Insider lobbying

Question 37

A group that has as its purpose issues unrelated to its members' vocations is known as which of the following?

A) Grassroots coalition
B) Interest collaboration
C) Targeted partnership
D) Professional interest group
E) Citizen group

Question 38

Any increase in lobbying regulations have to be careful that they do not conflict with which of the following?

A) Tenth Amendment provisions
B) The equal access clause of the Constitution
C) The fairness doctrine
D) Ninth Amendment provisions
E) The right to petition the government outlined in the First Amendment

Question 39

The free-rider problem increases the difficulty of attracting which of the following?

A) Young people
B) Paying members
C) Media attention
D) Votes in Congress
E) Cooperation from other interest costs

Question 40

Enticing individuals to join an interest group for solidary incentives has become easier because of which of the following?

A) Changes in federal law
B) The creation of virtual currency
C) The intense partisanship in the federal government
D) The increased diversity of the U.S. population
E) The advent of social media

Question 41

Explain how technology has changed the methods interest groups use to promote their agendas to members of Congress.

Question 42

Why has there been a significant increase in Washington, D.C.-based health-care lobbyists over the years?

Question 43

Explain the factors that make an interest group powerful.

Question 44

Explain what citizen groups are, and describe one of the advantages that business and professional groups have over them in affecting policymaking.

Question 45

Identify and discuss the variables that contribute to the ability of interest groups to successfully organize.

Question 46

Explain how interest groups make use of the public in their efforts to influence policy and legislation.

Question 47

Explain the differences between interest groups and political parties.

Question 48

Discuss the tactics used by interest groups as part of information campaigns.

Question 49

Explain the free-rider problem faced by interest groups and how they combat the problem.

Question 50

Discuss the different reasons Americans join interest groups. Provide examples of interest groups that demonstrate their benefits.

Question 51

Discuss the direct techniques used by interest groups to influence government decisions.

Question 52

Explain how lobbyists influence legislation or policy by highlighting three common techniques employed by lobbyists.