chapter 10 flashcards

                      AP GOVERNMENT & POLITICS                  

CHAPTER 10: INTEREST GROUPS

KEY TERMS & PEOPLE

Key Terms

On a separate sheet of paper define each term from the text or an outside source:

1. Actual Group- The differentiation between a potential group and an actual group: the actual group being people have formed into an official group that raises money, accepts members, and lobbies in Washington.

2. “Beltway Bandits”- Large not-for-profit firms with trade representatives or lobbyists in Washington who win federal grants and contracts

3. Client Politics- The situation that arises when a government agency services as well as regulates a distinct group

4. Collective Good- Something of value (money, a tax write-off, prestige, clean air, and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member.

5. Cue (Political)- A signal, frequently provided by interest groups, that tells a politician what values are at stake in an issue and how that issue fits into his or her own set of political beliefs

6. Direct Mail- The solicitation of funding through letter campaigns

7. “Dirty Dozen”- A list, compiled by an environmental interest group, of those legislators who voted most frequently against its measures

8. Electioneering- Direct group involvement in the electoral process. Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees (PAC).

9. Elitism- belief that those who form an elite are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole

10. Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946- Its application restricted to lobbying efforts involving direct contacts with members of Congress

11. Federalist 10- Argued the latent causes of faction are sown in the nature of man

12. Free-Rider Problem- People who could be a part of a group but are not but still benefit from said group's lobbying on Washington.

13. Hyper pluralism- a theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened

14. Section 501(c) (3) Organizations- Nonprofit group that may legally address political matters but may not lobby or campaign; donations to it are tax deductible.

15. Section 501 (c) (4) Organizations- Nonprofit group that is permitted to lobby and campaign; donations to it are not tax deductible.

16. Selective Benefits- Certain benefits that groups give to their members to keep them involved and also use to persuade other people to join and contribute to the cause.

17. Single-Issue Groups- Groups that are focused on one issue and push for that issue to be recognized in Washington.

18. Grassroots Support- Backing for a public policy that arises or is created in public opinion

19. Ideological Interest Groups- Political organization that attracts members by appealing to their political convictions or principles.

20. Incentive (Political)- Something of value one cannot get without joining an organization.

21. Insider Strategy- Lobbyists working closely with a few key members of Congress, meeting them privately to exchange information and sometimes favors

22. Institutional Interests- Individuals or organizations representing other organizations

23. Interest Groups- An organization that seeks to influence public policy

24. Iron Triangles- A network of groups within the American political system that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas. They are composed of interest group leaders interested in a particular policy, the government agency in charge of administering that policy, and the members of congressional committees and subcommittees handling that policy.

25. Issue Public- The part of the public that is directly affected by or deeply concerned with a governmental policy

26. Lobbying- Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.

27. Lobbyist- A person attempting to influence government decisions on behalf of an interest group

28. Material Benefit Incentives- Something tangible, such as money or services, which attracts people to join mass-membership organizations

29. Membership Interests- Interest groups made up of those who join voluntarily

30. Outsider Strategy- Plan increasingly used by lobbyists with advent of modern technology and employing grassroots lobbying

31. PACs- a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns.

32. PIRGs- Organizations that gather information on consumer topics (first organized by Ralph Nader)

33. Pluralism- A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.

34. Potential Group- People who fit into a certain category that is already a group, but are not involved in the actual group, just have the potential to be involved.

35. Public-Interest Lobby- According to Jeffery Berry, organizations that seek "a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership of activities of the organization.

36. Purposive Incentive- The sense of satisfaction derived from serving a cause from which one does not benefit personally

37. Ratings- An assessment of a representative's voting record on issues important to an interest group

38. Revolving-Door Influence- The practice of lobbying officials with such promises as employment after their government service

39. Right-To-Work-Laws- A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs. It was specifically permitted in states by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

40. Social Movement- A widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order

41. Solidary Incentives- The sense of pleasure status, or companionship arising from group membership

42. Union Shop- A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment