3B Vocab

Question 1

Linkage institutions

Answer 1

Institutions (elections, interest groups, political parties, mass media) that connect the citizens of America to the policymaking institutions (Congress, president, courts, bureaucracy)

Question 2

Interest group

Answer 2

A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.

Question 3

Faction

Answer 3

A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups

Question 4

Federalist #10

Answer 4

Paper that stated one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions

Question 5

Policy agenda

Answer 5

The set of issues to which government officials, voters, and the public are paying attention

Question 6

Collective action

Answer 6

Political action that occurs when individuals contribute their energy, time, or money to a larger group goal

Question 7

Pluralism

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Free rider

Answer 8

An individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group’s influence

Question 9

Amicus curiae brief

Answer 9

Literally, a “friend of the court” brief, filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case

Question 10

Iron triangle

Answer 10

Alliances among bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional subcommittee members sometimes form to promote their common causes

Question 11

Issue network

Answer 11

Network that consists of people in interest groups, on congressional staffs, in bureaucratic agencies, in universities, and in the mass media who regularly debate an issue

Question 12

Political action committee (PAC)

Answer 12

The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members, stockholders, or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties

Question 13

Super PACs

Answer 13

Independent expenditure-only PACs are known as Super PACs because they may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC.

Question 14

Bundling

Answer 14

A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a “bundle,” thus increasing the PAC’s influence

Question 15

Lobbyist

Answer 15

A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches

Question 16

Lobbying

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Revolving door

Answer 17

Employment cycle in which individuals who work for governmental agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern

Question 18

Hard money

Answer 18

Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds, hence the term hard money.

Question 19

Soft money

Answer 19

Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Question 20

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA)

Answer 20

Effort to ban soft money and reduce attack ads with “Stand by Your Ad” provision: “I’m [candidate name] and I approve this message.”

Question 21

Independent expenditures

Answer 21

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

Question 22

Issue advocacy

Answer 22

Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like “vote for” or “vote against,” although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates

Question 23

501(c)

Answer 23

Nonprofit groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Section 501(c) of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities.

Question 24

Dark money

Answer 24

Refers to political spending meant to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of the money is unknown. Depending upon the circumstances, Dark Money can refer to funds spent by a political nonprofit or a super PAC.