ch 10 Interest Groups Textbook Q's

Interest group membership and the activities associated with group advocacy efforts are guaranteed by which clauses?

Assembly and petition

Interest groups and their advocacy are protected by the Constitution's guarantees of a right to assemble peacefully and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. These rights have been repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court in cases involving interest groups.

In his 1996 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton declared, "The era of big government is over." Yet the total of government spending and the number of people employed by the government have continued to grow. What role do interest groups play in preventing significant reforms to policies and government structures?

Close networks among elected officials, bureaucrats, and interest groups are difficult to break.

Over time, close partnerships known as "issue networks" or "iron triangles" develop between interest groups, congressional committee members, and government agencies that share a common goal of protecting their areas of influence.

The activities of an organization representing about 10 percent of a state's professional educators include lobbying, testifying in committee hearings, and providing data to legislators on relevant committees. These activities led to a raise in the base pay of all classroom teachers in the state. This scenario illustrates what issue that groups have in achieving their policy goals?

Collective action problem

One significant problem organizations face in doing their work is that while everyone who shares the interests of the group benefits from their work, only the people who join the organization help share the burden of financing and doing the work.

When someone joins a professional association because of the liability insurance the organization provides for its members, that person was induced to join for which of the following benefits?

Material

Material benefits include anything that is provided by an organization that has monetary value, such as branded items, discounts, insurance, legal advice, and more.

A political scientist who has spent their career studying the work of 527 groups, 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) organizations, and political action committees has most likely developed an expertise in which subject?

The influences of money on campaign activities and outcomes

Super PACs, PACs, 527 groups, and 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) organizations are all vehicles that are used by interest groups to move money into campaign activities that are meant to influence the outcomes of elections.

Consider this scenario: the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization that boasts a membership made up of more than a quarter of state legislators from across all fifty states, hosts an annual convention bringing together ideologically similar legislators from across the nation. Activities include presenting legislators with so-called model bills that between 2010 and 2018 were presented in state legislatures as proposed bills over 600 times. The activities in which ALEC is engaging in this real-world scenario can best be classified as which of the following?

Inside strategy

Inside strategies, like providing draft bills or model bills as shown in the scenario, also include activities like lobbying, testimony at hearings, litigation, collaboration, and providing reliable information to policy makers.

One of the biggest factors improving the likelihood of an interest group's success is

limited public interest and engagement on an issue.

When the public disengages from an issue without taking any position, interest groups are better able to influence policy makers with their information and lobbying efforts.

What is one reason it is difficult to measure interest group influence?

Many interest groups claim responsibility for policies and election outcomes regardless of whether their lobbying made a difference.

In the contest between Doug Jones and Roy Moore, interest groups spent significantly to support Jones and claimed credit for his win. However, Moore was a deeply problematic candidate who may have lost even without the intervention of interest groups.