13. Multiple Choice

Question 1

How do interest groups help improve the principal-agent relationship between politicians and voters?

Answer 1

They share information about the preferences of constituents, the effects of policies, and the actions of politicians.

Question 2

Which term describes an organized group of individuals or organizations that makes policy-related appeals to government?

Answer 2

interest group

Question 3

Interest groups tend to concern themselves with the …

Answer 3

policies of government.

Question 4

When a set of environmentalists banded together to form the Sierra Club to influence government policy, they created a(n) …

Answer 4

interest group

Question 5

James Madison argued that organized interests would have less opportunity to dominate the political process if the nation …

Answer 5

was large with diverse interests.

Question 6

According to Madison, how are the problems of factions best controlled?

Answer 6

The government encourages the formation of many groups so that no single interest can tyrannize the others.

Question 7

According to the Madisonian theory, what does a good constitution promote?

Answer 7

many interest groups

Question 8

According to the pluralist doctrine, competing interests will lead to …

Answer 8

compromise

Question 9

The theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government is called …

Answer 9

pluralism

Question 10

The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Petrochemical Refiners Association are examples of interest groups driven primarily by …

Answer 10

economic interests

Question 11

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Common Cause, and the Christian Coalition of America are groups driven primarily by …

Answer 11

the public interest

Question 12

Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, and the American Enterprise Institute help make up what is known as the __________ lobby.

Answer 12

research

Question 13

In order to attract members, most interest groups appeal to potential members not only by advertising their political goals but also by …

Answer 13

providing direct economic and social benefits to group members.

Question 14

To build a financial structure capable of sustaining an organization and funding the group’s activities, what do most interest groups primarily rely on?

Answer 14

membership dues and voluntary contributions

Question 15

Interest group politics tend to reflect the bias of …

Answer 15

well-educated, upper-income professionals

Question 16

When many organized interests mobilized to support tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, it illustrated the …

Answer 16

upper-class bias of interest groups

Question 17

Which one of the following political organizations is most likely to represent the interests of the unemployed in Washington, D.C.?

Answer 17

Democratic Party

Question 18

To obtain adequate political representation, forces from the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder must be organized together on a massive scale through …

Answer 18

political parties

Question 19

What is the relationship between government activity and interest group activity?

Answer 19

As government activity increases, interest group activity increases.

Question 20

Which of the following explains the growth and presence of interest groups in Washington, D.C., in the 1930s?

Answer 20

the dramatic expansion of the national government

Question 21

Which of the following was a major technological factor contributing to the rise and success of new political forces in the 1970s and 1980s?

Answer 21

computerized direct-mail campaigns

Question 22

Which industry lobbies exist to maintain the mortgage interest tax deduction?

Answer 22

real estate

Question 23

The emergence of AARP after the creation and expansion of Social Security and Medicare exemplifies which of the following?

Answer 23

clientele organization

Question 24

College students are said to share an interest in the cost and quality of education, but they have not organized to demand lower tuition, better facilities, or more effective faculty. Based on this observation, college students are otherwise referred to as which of the following?

Answer 24

latent group

Question 25

When theorizing about social situations involving collective action, researchers often rely on the metaphor of the …

Answer 25

prisoner’s dilemma

Question 26

Which of the following explains why cooperation in groups can be difficult to achieve?

Answer 26

prisoner’s dilemma

Question 27

In the prisoner’s dilemma, each player has a dominant strategy that leads to an outcome in which …

Answer 27

all players lose.

Question 28

In the prisoner’s dilemma, adherence to self-interest in accordance with the rationality principle …

Answer 28

makes both individuals worse off.

Question 29

The fact that a group of individuals would all benefit from draining a swamp but that any individual can shirk his or her part of the duties illustrates the concept of …

Answer 29

free riding

Question 30

In The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson challenged the pluralist assumption that …

Answer 30

common interests among individuals automatically transform into group action.