Multiple-Choice Quiz

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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Corporations

Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

This activity contains 23 questions.

Interest groups are:

	groups of people who get together at libraries to listen to the "interesting" events of individuals' travels.
	private organizations that try to shape public policy.
	synonymous with the phrase "political parties."
	comprised of members of Congress who have similar characteristics or policy interests.
	ineffectual in terms of shaping policy.

Interest groups are sometimes called:

	pressure groups.
	executive coalitions.
	Congressional caucuses.
	bureaucracies.
	splinter groups.

James Madison's term for groups or parties that try to advance their own interests at the expense of the public good is:

	factions.
	political parties.
	interest groups.
	free riders.
	anti-Federalists.

Those who would support interest groups as important for attaining democracy and the public interest are called:

	elitists.
	socialists.
	pluralists.
	anarchists.
	communists.

Which of the following is an argument in favor of pluralism?

	Interest groups are needed in order to communicate the needs of the people to elected officials in a way that elections are unable to do.
	Interest group systems are inherently undemocratic.
	Not all Americans have the level of resources necessary to form or join interest groups.
	Federalism makes it difficult for interest groups to influence government.
	Power in the U.S. government is tightly centralized.

Interest groups:

	have declined in number in recent years.
	have remained remarkably stable since the early 1900s.
	are few in number and represent few Americans, since Americans are not "joiners."
	have grown steadily since the late 1960s.
	are few in number but large in size.

Much of the increase in interest groups in recent years is accounted for by:

	the growth in groups representing labor organizations.
	the growth in groups representing the poor.
	the growth in so-called "public interest" or "citizen" groups.
	the creation of Congressional caucuses.
	an increase in leisure time for most Americans.

In terms of sheer number, the largest number of interest groups represent:

	corporations.
	labor unions.
	teachers.
	environmentalists.
	animal rights.

American constitutional features, such as separation of powers, federalism, and checks and balances, promote interest-group politics because:

	the president is the major figure in American politics and can control the activities of the other branches and levels of government.
	checks and balances mean that interest groups can only be successful in their lobbying efforts with Congress.
	there is no dominant center of decision making in American politics.
	states can overrule federal laws and thus help interest groups achieve their policy goals.
	the individual has no voice in government.

Which of the following types of benefit is tangible and quantifiable?

	material
	purposive
	solidaristic
	humanistic
	idealistic

The National Wheat Growers Association lobbies and gets from Congress price support legislation. I am a wheat grower. I do not, however, belong to or give money to the National Wheat Growers Association. I am known as a:

	low-life.
	collective good.
	free rider.
	single-interest group.
	exploiter.

The "inside game" of interest group activity depends most significantly on:

	favors given.
	substantial honoraria.
	access.
	bribery.
	blackmail.

The "inside game" of interest group activity concerns:

	bribing members of Congress.
	lobbying; the politics of one-on-one persuasion.
	educating the public about the goals of the interest group.
	publishing the voting records of members of Congress.
	raising funds for candidates who oppose the interest group.

Some of the most successful lobbyists are:

	former members of the House of Representatives.
	former Senators
	former high-level bureaucrats
	All are correct.
	former congressional staffers.

The key to success in lobbying the executive branch is:

	bribery.
	personal contact and cooperative long-term relationships.
	having members of the interest group call agency officials.
	staging protests, such as sit-ins.
	bringing in campaign contributions.

Interest groups sometimes lobby the courts by filing:

	writs of habeas corpus.
	writs of certiorari.
	ex post facto memoranda.
	amicus curiae briefs.
	briefs of admission.

Which of the following statements best describes what is known as the "outside game"?

	interest group activity in which lobbyists pressure legislators one-on-one to influence their decisions
	interest group activity in which public support is identified, created, mobilized, and brought to bear on policy makers in government
	interest group activity in which only private groups are involved
	interest group activity in which only public groups are involved
	interest group activitiy in which only professional groups are involved

Which of the following is an example of an "outside game" interest group activity?

	educating the public on issues that are important to an interest group
	sponsoring or directly publishing research results about an issue important to an interest group
	mobilizing the membership of an interest group
	All are correct.
	getting involved in a campaign or election

What is a PAC?

	paid advertisement (for) consumers
	political advocacy concern
	political action committee
	None is correct.
	political alert center

Which of the following terms is used to describe the tendency for regulatory agencies to become allies, protectors, and advocates of the industries that they regulate?

	subgovernments
	iron triangles
	capture
	clientelism
	"porkbarrel"

According to the theory of "interest group liberalism":

	Congress allows private organizations to formulate many of the details of policies that directly affect them.
	interest groups are increasingly promoting "liberal" issues.
	liberals are more likely to join interest groups than are conservatives.
	private interest groups always seem to promote liberal issues.
	interest groups never interfere with policymaking.

Iron triangles, or subgovernments, describe the three-way arrangement or alliance among which of the following?

	a private interest group, the executive branch, and the judicial branch
	a private interest group, some committee or subcommittee of Congress, and a bureaucratic agency
	a private interest group, the president, and the American people
	a private interest group, a bureaucratic agency, and the military
	the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary

According to economist and political scientist Charles Lindblom, corporations wield such disproportionate power in American politics:

	that more members of Congress should come from the ranks of the corporate world.
	that they undermine democracy.
	that the system produces policy appropriate for a capitalist nation.
	that a surtax on corporate lobbyists should be levied and the revenue applied to the national debt.
	because of the revenue and jobs they provide.

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