American Government 100Part IV
Patterson, pgs. 293-306
Woll, pgs. 177-182, A:AG23-11
Interest Groups
True or False Questions
1. The Republicanparty was united in its opposition to a major overhaul of the health care system, reflecting the party’sallegiance to a special interest and not the American people. True or False
2. The interest-group system over-represents business interests and fosters policies that serve a group’s interest more than the society’s broader interests. True or False
3. According to Patterson, Americans are more likely than citizens of other nations to join organized groups. True or False
4. Unlike Western Europe, state and local governments are not allowed to hire lobbyists to represent them in Washington, D.C. True or False
5. The extraordinary number of interest groups in the United States does not mean that the nation’s various interests are equally well organized. True or False
6. Americans are more likely to belong to groups than are the French, Italians, British, but not the Germans. True or False
7. Most union members today work in the private sector, despite the fact that it has only a fifth of the number of workers as does the public sector. True or False
8. Single-issue groups have risen sharply in number in the past half century and now pressure government on almost every conceivable policy. True or False
9. By most accounts, citizens’ groups have more influence on government than do economic groups. True or False
10. As economist Mancur Olson noted, it is not rational, in a purely economic sense, for individuals to contribute to a group when they can obtain its benefit for free. True or False
11. The Republicans were telling the truth about the proposed healthcare reform bill when they told their constituents that President Obama wants to euthanize your grandmother. True or False
12. Although it might be thought that the interests of groups with large memberships would typically prevail over the interests of smaller groups, the reverse is more often true.True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The health insurance providers reacted to President Obama’s initiative for reform by: a) embracing bi-partisanship and agreeing that dramatic changes needed to be implemented, b) quickly introducing commercials that supported the chief executive’s efforts, c) argued for a public option and the removal of pre-condition requirements, d) attempting to block any change that would erode their profits while lying to the American about supporting reform.
2. The pluralist theory of American politics holds that society's interests are most effectively represented through the efforts of: a) individuals, b) lawmakers, c) groups, d) public bureaucracies.
3. Groups organized around nearly every conceivable policy issue, with each group pressing its demands and influence to the utmost, at whatever cost to the broader society: a) single-issue politics, b) interest-group influence, c) pluralist control, d) issue-oriented campaigns.
4. The following can be defined as any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy: a) interest group, b) faction, c) pressure group, d) all the above.
5. Which of the following interest groups are by far the most thoroughly organized? A) public interests, b) business enterprise, c) single-issue groups, d) citizens’ groups.
6. What are the traditional means by which groups communicate with and influence political leaders? a) letter writing and the media, b) grass roots organizing and precinct walking, c) lobbying and electioneering, d) demonstrations and protest rallies.
7. How many businesses does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce represent? a) 1 million, b) 3 million, c) 5 million, d) 7 million.
8. The largest labor group with over twelve million members and sixty affiliated unions: a) the Teamsters, b) the AFL-CIO, c) the United Mine Workers, d) the Farm Workers of America.
9. At its height, unionized labor represented a third of the workforce but today only: a) one in four, b) one in five, c) one in eight, d) one in fourteen.
10. What percent of public-sector employees are unionized? a) 13%, b) 19%, c) 29%, d) 40%
11. People who join not for material gain, but to promote a cause in which they believe: a) solidary incentives, b) social incentives, c) educational interests, d) purposive incentives.
12. In what way are citizens’ groups different from business firms? a) business firms allow everyone that is interested to join, c) citizens groups are highly restrictive and charge exorbitant fees to join, c) business firms tend to have a comprehensive agenda, from environmental protection to support for the minimum wage, d) business firms only allow their fellow employees to participate in their political activities.
13. Why do corporations have the greatest built-in advantage compared to all other groups? a) they have the money to pay for expensive lobbyists, b) they have the public’s support, c) the legal system is rigged to their advantage, d) the media is controlled by corporate power with the public having no access to policymakers.
14. Goods that are by definition benefits that belong to all; they cannot be granted or withheld on an individual basis: a) collective goods, b) cooperative goods, c) integrated goods, d) communal goods. (It’s the air we breathe & the national forests and are sometimes called public goods as well.
15. What percent of NPR listeners do not contribute to their local station? a) 35%, b 47%, c) 63%, d) 90%
16. A characteristic of collective goods that provide benefits even if the recipient has not contributed to the group's finances: a) the social safety net, b) public resources, c) free-rider problem, d) charitable goods.
17. The most powerful lobbying organization in Washington, D.C., that defends social security, Medicare, and other programs affecting retirees: a) NRA, b) AARP, c) AMA, c) NAACP.
Fill-in Questions
1. How do the major political parties differ from interest groups?
a) Parties serve to ______citizens with ______.
b) Parties address a ______of issues so as to appeal to ______blocs of voters.
c) Parties are in the business of trying to win ______.
2. How do Interest groups differ from the major political parties?
a) Interest groups concentrate on ______affecting their interests.
b) A group may involve itself in ______, but its purpose is to ______the policies that affect it.
3. Why are Americans more engaged in groups than citizens elsewhere?
a) the nation’s tradition of free ______,
b) the ______of American society, and
c) the prominence of ______and
d) public ______.
Federalist 10, James Madison
Woll, pgs. 177-182
True or False Questions
1. According to Madison, it has been the instability, injustice, and confusion into the public councils that have been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished. True or False
2. Since man is fallible, argues Madison, whenever he can exercise liberty, there will always be the public means to shape opinions into a unified faction. True or False
3. Moral and religious motives can be relied upon to contain the sinister views of people, argues Madison. True or False
4. In a small republic, it would be far easier to oppress the citizens because of the proximity of its people to its political leaders, argues Madison, compared with a large republic where the expanse of the nation makes it far more difficult. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Madison says that there is no avoiding the fact that: a) legislators are advocates of the public interest, b) the most powerful and numerous faction in the legislature will win out whether the policy is just or unjust, c) the design of the political system will assure that factions will have a nebulous affect on governmental policy, d) the geographic size of a republic as little affect on factions.
Fill-in Question
1. What is Madison's definition of faction?
"... a number of citizens, whether amounting to a ______or ______of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of ______, or of interest, adverse to the ______of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community."
2. The question…is, whether small or extensive republics are most favorable to the election of proper guardians of the public weal; and it is clearly decided in favor of the latter (extensive republics) by two obvious considerations:
a) …”the former (large republic) will present a greater ______, and a greater probability of a ____choice “ to run the government than a small republic because of the many more voices from which to choose.
b) …”as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in a large (republic) than in a small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the ______arts….”
c) …”the greater number of citizens, and extent of territory” that are a part of a large republic …renders factious combinations less to be ______….”
Answers
Patterson, pgs. 293-306
True or False
1. True
3. True
5. True
7. False
9. False
11. False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. d
3. a
5. b
7. b
9. c
11. d
13. a
15. d
17. b
Fill-In Questions
1. a) connect, government b) broad range, diverse, c) elections.
3. a) association, b) openness, c) religion, d) education
Woll, pgs. 177-182
True or False
1. True
3. False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b
Fill-in Question
1. majority, minority, passion, rights
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