Ch 10

Question 1

Interest group

Answer 1

An organization of people with a similar policy goal, or goals, who enter the political process at one or more points, in one or more policy arenas, to try and achieve their goals

Question 2

Iron Triangle

Answer 2

Also known as subgovernments, iron triangles consist of interest groups, government agencies, and congressional committees or subcomittees that have a mutually dependent, mutually advantageous relationship; they dominate some areas of domestic policymaking.

Question 3

Free-rider problem

Answer 3

Some or many potential group members will not join an interest group because they know they can benefit from the group’s activities without joining.

Question 4

Electioneering

Answer 4

Direct group involvement in the electoral process, for example, helping to fund campaigns, getting members to work for candidates, and forming political action committees.

Question 5

Pluralism

Answer 5

Theory of American democracy thaat emphasizes policymaking should be a very open process open to the participation of all groups with shared interests, with no single group dominating.

Question 6

Elitism

Answer 6

Theory of American democracy contending that an upper-class elite holds the power and makes policy regardless of the formal governmental organization.

Question 7

Potential group

Answer 7

All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest

Question 8

Actual group

Answer 8

The people in the potential group who actually join

Question 9

Selective benefits

Answer 9

Goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join

Question 10

Union shop

Answer 10

A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring that all employees of a unionized business join the union within a short period of being hired, usually 30 days, and remain members as a condition of employment.

Question 11

Single-issue group

Answer 11

Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics

Question 12

Right-to-work laws

Answer 12

State laws that forbid the creation of union shops. These laws were specifically authorized by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

Question 13

Hyperpluralism

Answer 13

A theory of American democracy arguing that a wide variety of interest groups have become empowered with the ability to veto policy change, thereby leading to a regular gridlock in Washington

Question 14

Collective good

Answer 14

Something of value that cannot be withheld from a potential group member.

Question 15

Lobbying

Answer 15

A communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision

Question 16

Public interest lobbies

Answer 16

Organizations that seek a collective good, which benefits the society as a whole.