Deck 13: Groups and Interests

Question 1

In American society, empirical research shows that groups form roughly in proportion to people's interests.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In recent years, interest groups have become much more numerous, more active, and more influential in American politics.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Many Washington lobbyists double as fundraisers for political campaigns.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Within the universe of interest group politics, it is political power rather than an abstract conception of the public good that is likely to prevail.

Question 5

Interest groups focus on helping their favorite candidates win elections while political action committees (PACs) focus on influencing elected officials.

Question 6

In contrast to political parties, interest groups tend to concern themselves with government personnel.

Question 7

The framers of the U.S. Constitution were fearful of majority factions.

Question 8

Modern research indicates that interest groups easily form in response to changes in the political environment.

Question 9

Interest groups have declined in influence in recent years.

Question 10

The Christian right is a powerful movement made up of a number of interest groups that offer virtually no material benefits to its members.

Question 11

Large groups manage to overcome the problem of collective action more frequently than their smaller counterparts.

Question 12

According to the text, a diversity of interests enhances American democracy because it promotes compromise and moderation.

Question 13

Lobbyists serve a useful purpose in the legislative and administrative process by providing valuable information.

Question 14

Interest groups help craft language in legislation.

Question 15

According to Madisonian theory, a good constitution encourages multitudes of interests so that no single interest can ever tyrannize the others.

Question 16

Membership in interest groups is randomly distributed in the population.

Question 17

To obtain adequate political representation in the United States, forces from the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder generally must be organized on the massive scale associated with political parties.

Question 18

Interest groups work primarily by trying to get candidates elected.

Question 19

The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act requires all organizations employing lobbyists to register with Congress and to disclose whom they represent.

Question 20

A political system in which interest groups predominate is a politics with a distinctly upper-class bias.

Question 21

During the 2016 campaign, most of Hillary Clinton's campaign funds were from Super PACs.

Question 22

Interest groups focus their direct campaign contributions on the president.

Question 23

Grassroots lobbying campaigns have become so ineffective in recent years that a number of Washington consulting firms have been forced to close their doors permanently.

Question 24

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order banning lobbying firms from hiring former members of Congress.

Question 25

The Women's Marches of 2017 attracted ample media attention to feminist causes.

Question 26

Most initiative campaigns today are sponsored by interest groups seeking to circumvent legislative opposition to their goals.

Question 27

Since the flurry of reforms following Watergate and later scandals, the electoral spending by interest groups has been steadily decreasing.

Question 28

Interest groups provide funds for candidates but are rarely involved in other aspects of political campaigns.

Question 29

The prospect of full and faithful implementation of a law is guaranteed after an interest group is successful in getting its bill passed by Congress.

Question 30

According to most legislators, the most convincing form of grassroots lobbying is Astroturf lobbying.

Question 31

So many individuals and groups clamor for the president's time and attention that only the most skilled and well-connected members of the lobbying community can hope to influence presidential decisions.

Question 32

Interest groups invest far more resources in lobbying than in electoral politics.

Question 33

The rules of Congress allow its members to travel on corporate jets as long as they pay an amount equal to first-class airfare.

Question 34

Many businesses, universities, and cities find that lobbying is a very profitable investment.

Question 35

Many businesses bring lawsuits to influence government policy.

Question 36

The unique status of the office of the president of the United States prevents it from being a target of lobbying activities.

Question 37

Groups seeking access to birth control and abortion avoided using the courts as a significant strategy to advance their goals after the 1970s.

Question 38

Super PACs are nonprofit groups that spend money to influence politics but cannot donate to candidates for office.

Question 39

Most interest groups exclusively lobby a single branch of the federal government.

Question 40

Some lobbying firms endeavor to maintain good relations with both political parties.

Question 41

In order to attract members, most interest groups appeal to potential members not only by advertising their political goals but also by

A)offering jobs to all members in their Washington, D.C., offices.
B)providing direct economic and social benefits to group members.
C)lobbying state legislatures to make group membership mandatory for affected citizens.
D)advertising their organizers' personal ambitions.

Question 42

As of 1996, members of the U.S. House of Representatives cannot accept cash from lobbyists, but they can accept noncash gifts of any value.

Question 43

Interest groups tend to concern themselves with the

A)policies of government.
B)issues relevant to businesses.
C)issues relevant to individual citizens.
D)issues relevant to foreign nations.

Question 44

When a set of environmentalists banded together to form the Sierra Club to influence government policy, they created a(n)

A)political action committee.
B)lobbying firm.
C)interest group.
D)527 group.

Question 45

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Common Cause, and the Christian Coalition of America are groups driven primarily by

A)the public interest.
B)moral interests.
C)economic interests.
D)the research lobby.

Question 46

Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, and the American Enterprise Institute help make up what is known as the __________ lobby.

A)moral
B)business
C)consumer
D)research

Question 47

The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Petrochemical Refiners Association are examples of interest groups driven primarily by

A)the public interest.
B)labor interests.
C)economic interests.
D)the research lobby.

Question 48

According to Madison, how are the problems of factions best controlled?

A)The government exercises its coercive powers to control group activities that become violent or subversive.
B)The government places limits on the number of interest groups allowed in society.
C)The government encourages the formation of many groups so that no single interest can tyrannize the others.
D)The government places limits on the amount of money groups may contribute to political campaigns.

Question 49

There are no interest groups that seek to promote the general interest.

Question 50

James Madison argued that organized interests would have less opportunity to dominate the political process if the nation

A)was large with diverse interests.
B)was small with diverse interests.
C)was small with common interests.
D)was large with common interests.

Question 51

The Supreme Court allows restrictions on campaign donations, even though contributions are considered a form of free speech, in order to ensure political equality among citizens.

Question 52

The Supreme Court considers campaign contributions to be a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment.

Question 53

Which term describes an organized group of individuals or organizations that makes policy-related appeals to government?

A)527 group
B)lobbying firm
C)political action committee
D)interest group

Question 54

Compared to businesses, labor unions, and professional associations, citizen groups have more influence on policy debates.

Question 55

To build a financial structure capable of sustaining an organization and funding the group's activities, what do most interest groups primarily rely on?

A)grants from charitable foundations
B)research contracts and royalties from intellectual properties
C)selling of ancillary services such as insurance or vacation tours
D)membership dues and voluntary contributions

Question 56

How do interest groups help improve the principal-agent relationship between politicians and voters?

A)They share information about the preferences of constituents, the effects of policies, and the actions of politicians.
B)They sue legislators who have betrayed their commitments to voters.
C)They help politicians stage Astroturf campaigns.
D)They provide selective incentives to politicians who are good principals.

Question 57

According to the pluralist doctrine, competing interests will lead to

A)corporatism.
B)consumerism.
C)consolidation.
D)compromise.

Question 58

Compared to businesses, labor unions, and professional associations, citizen groups spend the least on lobbying and campaign contributions.

Question 59

According to the Madisonian theory, what does a good constitution promote?

A)many interest groups
B)firm regulation of interest groups
C)a limited number of interest groups
D)government subsidies for interest groups

Question 60

The theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government is called

A)pluralism.
B)capitalism.
C)interest group liberalism.
D)functionalism.

Question 61

In the prisoner's dilemma, each player has a dominant strategy that leads to an outcome in which

A)all players win.
B)all players lose.
C)one player wins while the others lose.
D)half of the players win and half lose.

Question 62

College students are said to share an interest in the cost and quality of education, but they have not organized to demand lower tuition, better facilities, or more effective faculty. Based on this observation, college students are otherwise referred to as which of the following?

A)latent group
B)active group
C)block group
D)social group

Question 63

Which of the following explains the growth and presence of interest groups in Washington, D.C., in the 1930s?

A)the dramatic expansion of the national government
B)the leftist movement that gained hold during the Great Depression
C)federal deregulation of interest group formation
D)the development of radio and broadcast media

Question 64

In the prisoner's dilemma, adherence to self-interest in accordance with the rationality principle

A)helps an individual gain freedom.
B)only helps the other individual in gaining freedom.
C)makes both individuals worse off.
D)makes both individuals much better off.

Question 65

To obtain adequate political representation, forces from the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder must be organized together on a massive scale through

A)labor unions.
B)interest groups.
C)political parties.
D)creative redistricting.

Question 66

When theorizing about social situations involving collective action, researchers often rely on the metaphor of the

A)perplexed citizen.
B)prisoner's dilemma.
C)cowboy's quandary.
D)omnivore's dilemma.

Question 67

The emergence of AARP after the creation and expansion of Social Security and Medicare exemplifies which of the following?

A)social movement
B)public interest
C)clientele organization
D)expansionism

Question 68

Which one of the following political organizations is most likely to represent the interests of the unemployed in Washington, D.C.?

A)AFL-CIO
B)Common Cause
C)Democratic Party
D)Department of Housing and Urban Development

Question 69

Which of the following was a major technological factor contributing to the rise and success of new political forces in the 1970s and 1980s?

A)computerized direct-mail campaigns
B)random digit dialing for telemarketing
C)public access programming required for city cable system franchises
D)HTML protocols for initial website development

Question 70

According to Mancur Olson, small groups are able to overcome the collective action problem more easily than large groups because small groups

A)are more personal and thus more vulnerable to interpersonal persuasion.
B)are generally formed by labor interests, which are better at enforcing collective action.
C)have fewer resource needs.
D)tend to focus on providing public goods instead of private goods.

Question 71

According to Mancur Olson, what is the solution to the collective action problem?

A)selective benefits
B)selective activities
C)selective action
D)selective membership

Question 72

Which industry lobbies exist to maintain the mortgage interest tax deduction?

A)moving and transportation
B)education
C)real estate
D)venture capital

Question 73

When many organized interests mobilized to support tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, it illustrated the

A)low political knowledge of Americans.
B)upper-class bias of interest groups.
C)influence of union groups.
D)political power of service and industrial workers.

Question 74

Union members who label other members as "scabs" for their refusal to strike is an example of

A)union opposition.
B)political entrepreneurship.
C)solidary support.
D)coercion.

Question 75

According to Mancur Olson's perspective, collective action is most likely to be successful among which one of the following groups in the United States?

A)workers
B)wealthy business owners
C)registered Democrats and Republicans
D)the elderly

Question 76

Which of the following explains why cooperation in groups can be difficult to achieve?

A)rowboat matrix
B)prisoner's dilemma
C)cliffhanger conundrum
D)splintering postulation

Question 77

Interest group politics tend to reflect the bias of

A)religious activists.
B)low-wage service employees.
C)well-educated, upper-income professionals.
D)unionized workers.

Question 78

In The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson challenged the pluralist assumption that

A)individuals always act according to their own self-interests.
B)political representation is responsive to the influence of interest groups.
C)organizations tend to dissolve away after their primary mission is accomplished.
D)common interests among individuals automatically transform into group action.

Question 79

The fact that a group of individuals would all benefit from draining a swamp but that any individual can shirk his or her part of the duties illustrates the concept of

A)free riding.
B)negative externalities.
C)collective optimization.
D)groupthink failures.

Question 80

What is the relationship between government activity and interest group activity?

A)As government activity declines, interest group activity increases.
B)As government activity increases, interest group activity increases.
C)Interest group activity increases regardless of government activity.
D)Interest group activity decreases regardless of government activity.