Chapter 11 Interest Groups
Multiple-Choice Questions
1) The case involving Eli Lilly and Company illustrates how
A) little influence special interests actually have on Congress.
B) special interests can still bribe members of Congress.
C) special interestsʹ campaign contributions can influence congressional action.
D) Congress can regulate the activities of special interests.
E) the increasing importance of multinational corporations.
Answer: C
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2) According to James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 1, the way to prevent any one group from
having too much power is to
A) eliminate most groups.
B) increase the scope and number of groups.
C) strictly regulate them.
D) make them unconstitutional.
E) none of the above
Answer: B
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3) Since the 1960s, the number of interest groups has
A) remained constant.
B) risen rapidly.
C) declined slightly.
D) declined sharply.
E) fluctuated up and down as new issues developed and others faded away.
Answer: B
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4) The right of interest groups to organize is
A) protected by the Constitution.
B) protected by the Federal Election Campaign Act.
C) protected by state laws.
D) protected by the Bill of Rights.
E) none of the above
Answer: D
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5) The term interest group can be generally defined as
A) an organization that seeks a collective good, the achievement of which will not
specifically or materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization.
B) a group that has a narrow interest, dislikes compromise, and single-mindedly pursues
its goal.
C) all people who share some common interest regardless of whether they join an
organization promoting that interest.
D) an organization of people with similar policy goals entering the political process to try to
achieve those aims.
E) an organization of people who share a common interest who run candidates in elections
sympathetic to that interest.
Answer: D
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6) An organization of people with similar policy goals entering the political process to try to
achieve those aims is called
A) a political party.
B) a political action committee.
C) an interest group.
D) a collective.
E) a political corporation.
Answer: C
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7) Which of the following is NOT typical of American interest groups?
A) They frequently look to the bureaucracy or the judicial process to achieve their policy
goals.
B) They run their own slate of candidates for office in many parts of the country.
C) Most have a handful of key policies to push, and are policy experts in those areas.
D) Unlike political parties, they are not faced with the constraint of trying to appeal to
everyone.
E) They mostly represent diffuse, non-economic interests.
Answer: B
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8) American political parties differ from interest groups in that parties
A) are policy specialists.
B) are policy generalists.
C) are policy-driven.
D) do not take positions on policy issues.
E) have a narrower scope than interest groups.
Answer: B
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9) One of the main differences between American political parties and interest groups is that
A) interest groups are concerned with more issues.
B) interest groups concentrate on only one policy arena.
C) political parties run candidates for office.
D) interest groups limit their membership.
E) political parties are policy specialists.
Answer: C
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10) In Europe, interest groups
A) do not exist.
B) often form political parties.
C) exist but are not as powerful as in the United States.
D) have the same role and power as in the United States.
E) do not have the same constitutional protection that they have in the United States and
are frequently persecuted.
Answer: B
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11) In many countries with multiparty systems and proportional representation, interest groups
A) frequently win a majority of seats in the national legislature.
B) frequently win some seats in the national legislature.
C) frequently run candidates for seats in the national legislature, but these candidates
almost never win.
D) are barred from running candidates for office.
E) are guaranteed by law seats in the national parliament in proportion to their percentage
of the general population.
Answer: B
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12) An interest group is more likely to form its own political party where
A) voters choose their legislators in single-member districts.
B) voters choose their legislators in dual-member districts.
C) voters choose their legislators using proportional representation.
D) the government has a bicameral legislature.
E) there is a strong two-party system, and the major parties ignore their demands.
Answer: C
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13) According to ______theorists, interest groups compete and counterbalance one another in
the political marketplace.
A) elitist
B) hyperelitist
C) pluralist
D) hyperpluralist
E) free market
Answer: C
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14) Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A) With proportional representation systems, all it takes is between one and five percent of
the vote for a party to win seats in the national legislature.
B) In many Scandinavian countries, farmersʹ parties have long been in existence.
C) Many new interest groups in Europe have formed parties on the basis of shared values.
D) Green parties in Europe have never been able to win enough votes to enter the national
legislature.
E) Parties are more like interest groups in Europe than in the U.S.
Answer: D
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15) The successes of civil rights and womenʹs rights groups in redirecting the course of public
policy, once they were organized, is pointed to as evidence to support the ______theory that
American politics is open and not a problem.
A) pluralist
B) hyperpluralist
C) elite
D) hyperelitist
E) free market
Answer: A
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16) The group theory of politics offered by pluralist theorists argues all of the following EXCEPT
A) groups provide a key link between people and government.
B) no one group is likely to become too dominant.
C) groups are all of equal strength.
D) groups usually play by the rules of the game.
E) different groups win at different times.
Answer: C
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17) The idea that just a few groups have all the power is associated with
A) elite theory.
B) pluralist theory.
C) hyperpluralist theory.
D) democratic theory.
E) syndicalism.
Answer: A
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18) A pluralistic interpretation of interest group politics would maintain that
A) all groups are subject to corrupt practices and tactics involving violence.
B) the degree of organization of a group has no effect on its ability to influence policy.
C) all legitimate groups can affect public policy by means of one political resource or
another.
D) when groups compete the public interest is not served.
E) the overemphasis on groups in America has submerged the value of the individual and
lead to government policies that suppress individual interests.
Answer: C
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19) According to the group theory of politics,
A) all groups are equal.
B) groups do not compete.
C) groups do not play by the rules of the game.
D) groups weak in one resource can use another.
E) most political influence comes from individuals speaking in the name of groups but
actually acting on their own personal agenda.
Answer: C
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20) The idea that interest group activity brings representation to all is associated with
A) elite theory.
B) pluralist theory.
C) hyperpluralist theory.
D) democratic theory.
E) republicanism.
Answer: B
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21) Which of the following theories offers the most positive interpretation of the effect of interest
groups on American democracy?
A) pluralist
B) hyperpluralist
C) elite
D) hyperelitist
E) free market
Answer: A
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22) Pluralists argue that lobbying
A) is dominated by wealthy corporations and the wealthiest individuals and is a danger to
the democratic system.
B) is open to all and is therefore not to be regarded as a problem.
C) by so many interest groups who get what they want indicates that the relation between
groups and government has grown too cozy.
D) must be suspended until tighter regulations can be put into place to protect the public
interest.
E) has no effect on policymaking.
Answer: B
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23) ______theorists are impressed by how insignificant most organized interest groups are.
A) Pluralist
B) Hyperpluralist
C) Elitist
D) Pluralist and hyperpluralist
E) Deconstruction
Answer: C
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24) Elitist theorists argue that
A) groups weak in one resource can use another, and all legitimate groups are able to affect
public policy by one means or another.
B) the fact that there are numerous groups proves nothing, because most groups are
extremely unequal in power.
C) the government has treated all interest group demands as legitimate, and unwisely
chosen to advance them all.
D) the larger the group, the further it will fall short of providing an optimal amount of a
collective good.
E) governments should be controlled by a select group of well-educated, cultured, wealthy
persons who understand the laws of economics and can run the most efficient
government.
Answer: B
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25) The ______theorists argue that the power of the few is fortified by an extensive system of
interlocking directorates, and that wealthy corporations prevail when it comes to major
decisions by government.
A) pluralist
B) hyperpluralist
C) elitist
D) hyperelitist
E) pyramid
Answer: C
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26) The pluralist theory of American politics maintains that
A) the extensive organization of competing groups is evidence that influence is widely
dispersed among them.
B) the proliferation of interest groups results in political stagnation.
C) the largest interest groups will come to dominate policymaking.
D) although groups often do not play by the rules of the game, they do represent the
American public at large.
E) the slogan on our money, e pluribus unum, is accurate in the sense that out of the many
competing groups in America, a single unified American purpose has been forged.
Answer: A
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27) The presence and power of multinational corporations illustrates
A) elite theory.
B) pluralist theory.
C) hyperpluralist theory.
D) democratic theory.
E) global unity theory.
Answer: C
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28) Elite theorists emphasize the power of
A) subgovernments.
B) business leaders.
C) congressional staff members.
D) public interest lobbies.
E) presidents.
Answer: B
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29) Elitist views of interest groups emphasize that
A) groups are essentially equal in their power and thus cancel each others influence on
policymakers.
B) a system of interlocking directorates reinforces the power of the few dominant groups.
C) group competition weakens the ability of any one group to dominate.
D) because there are so many groups, their effect on policy is insignificant.
E) the leaders of powerful interest groups tend to think they are superior to the average
citizen and thus they demand special privileges from government not accorded the rest
of society in order to maintain themselves as a privileged elite.
Answer: B
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30) Interest group liberalism is criticized especially by ______theorists.
A) pluralist
B) hyperpluralist
C) elitist
D) hyperelitist
E) social-conservative
Answer: B
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31) Interest group liberalism holds that
A) the fact that there are numerous interest groups proves nothing, because groups are
extremely unequal in power.
B) interest groups win some and lose some, but no group wins or loses all the time.
C) when one interest group throws its weight around too much, its opponents are likely to
intensify their organization and thus restore balance to the system.
D) virtually all pressure group demands are legitimate, and the job of government is to
advance them all.
E) the role of government is to leaven the natural inequalities of the free market system and
that entails paying more attention to the needs of economically weak interest groups and
less attention to economically powerful groups.
Answer: D
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32) Interest group liberalism is associated with which of the following criticisms?
A) In an effort to please and appease every interest, agencies proliferate, conflicting
regulations expand, programs multiply, and the budgets skyrocket.
B) Real power is held by relatively few people, key groups, and institutions that get nearly
all they want from government.
C) Interest groups win some and lose some, but no group wins or loses all the time, and
democratic government is well served by their competition.
D) The framers of the Constitution intended that groups serve to bargain for various
interests in American society, and this has proven a wise and relatively fair, open system.
E) The interest group system is dominated by liberal interest groups who have been
successfully pushing an agenda that has made it hard for the police to fight crime,
contributed to declining moral values and bankrupted the government with giveaways
to welfare freeloaders.
Answer: A
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33) Interest group liberalism is promoted by
A) ideologically liberal interest groups and not conservative groups.
B) one group winning and another losing in the competition for government action or
funding.
C) subgovernments.
D) hyperpluralists.
E) all of the above
Answer: C
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34) The criticism that government refuses to make tough choices between X or Y, instead
pretending there is no need to choose and trying to favor both is most often made by ______
theorists.
A) pluralist
B) hyperpluralist
C) elitist
D) hyperelitist
E) rational choice
Answer: B