Chapter 14 Vocabulary

interest group

a collection of people or organizations that tries to influence public policy

American Anti-Slavery Society

a major interest group, founded in 1833, to advocate for the abolition of slavery throughout the United States

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

a public interest group created in 1874 with the goal of outlawing the sale of liquor; its activities included prayer groups, protest marches, lobbying, and the destruction of saloons

The Grange

founded in 1867 as an educational organization for farmers; the Grange evolved into the first truly national interest group by working to protect the political and economic concerns of farming communities and rural areas

lobbyist

interest group representative who seeks to influence legislation that will benefit his or her organization or client through political and/or financial persuasion

Progressive Movement

a broad group of political and social activists from the 1890's to the 1920's who opposed corruption in government, supported regulation of monopolies, and sought improvement of socioeconomic conditions

public interest group

an organization that seeks a collective good that if achieved will not selectively and materially benefit group members

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

founded in 1886, the AFL brought skilled workers from several trades together into one stronger national organization for the first time; it merged in 1955 with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)

an organization founded in 1895 by manufacturers to combat the growth of organized labor

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

a major pro-business lobbying group founded in 1912

trade association

a group that represents a specific industry

Jerry Falwell

a Southern Baptist minister who, in 1978, founded the conservative religious interest group in the Moral Majority

Moral Majority

a conservative religious interest group credited with helping to mobilize conservative Evangelical Christian voters from its founding in 1978 through the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

Pat Robertson

a Southern Baptist minister and television evangelist who ran for president in 1968 and in 1989 founded the conservative religious interest group in the Christian Coalition

National Rifle Association (NRA)

the major gun-rights lobbying group in the United States, which opposes gun control and advances an expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment

AFL-CIO

a large labor union founded in 1955 by the merging of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and its one-time rival the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

social capitol

cooperative relationships that facilitate the resolution of collective problems

civic virtue

the tendency to form small-scale associations for the public good

disturbance theory

the theory that interest groups form as a result of changes in the political system

pluralist theory

the theory that political power is distributed among a wide array of diverse and competing interest groups

transactions theory

the theory that public policies are the result of narrowly defined exchanges or transactions among political actors

collective good

something of value that cannot be withheld from a nonmember of a group, for example, a tax-write off or a better environment

economic interest group

a group with the primary purpose of promoting the financial interests of its members

political action committee (PAC)

officially recognized fund-raising organization that represents interest groups and is allowed by federal law to make contributions directly to candidates' campaigns

lobbying

the activities of a group or organization that seek to persuade political leaders to support the group's position

Marian Wright Edelman

a lawyer who in 1973 founded the Children's Defense Fund to protect the rights of children, particularly those who are members of disadvantaged groups

patron

a person who finances a group or individual activity

free rider problem

potential members who fail to join a group because they can get the benefit, or collective good, sought by the group without contributing the effort

Lobbying Disclosure Act

a 1930's federal law that employed a strict definition of lobbyist and established strict reporting requirements on the activities of lobbyists

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007

lobbying reform banning gifts to members of Congress and their staffs, toughening disclosure requirements, and increasing time limits on moving from the federal government to the private sector