Chapter 9 Flashcards
Interest groups
Organizations seeking to directly influence government policy.
Majoritarianism
Tendency of democratic governments to allow the faint preferences of the majority to prevail over the intense feelings of minorities.
Organizational sclerosis
Society encrusted with so many special benefits to interest groups that everyone’s standard of living is lowered.
Social Movements
Organized movements of persons who make “collective claims” on others.
Rent
A payment for a good beyond the marginal cost of the factors that enter its production and supply.
Environmental groups
Groups primarily concerned with issues of conservation or preservation of natural resources.
Trade associations
Interest groups composed of businesses in specific industries.
Public-interest groups
Interest groups that claim to represent broad classes of people or the public as a whole.
Single-issue groups
Organizations formed to support or oppose government action on a specific issue.
Ideological organizations
Interest groups that pursue ideologically based (liberal or conservative) agendas.
Interest-group entrepreeneurs
Leaders who create organizations and market memberships.
Free-riders
People who do not belong to an organization or pay dues, yet nevertheless benefit from its activities.
Lobbyist
Person working to influence government policies and actions.
K Street
The primary location, in Washington, D.C., of many powerful lobbying organizations and interest groups.
Lobbying
Activities directed at government officials with the hope of influencing their decisions.
Public relations
Building and maintaining goodwill with the general public.
Access
Meeting and talking with decision makers, a prerequisite to direct persuasion.
Grassroots lobbying
Attempts to influence government decision making by inspiring constituents to contact their representatives.
Coalition
A joining together of interest groups (or individuals) to achieve common goals.
Bribery
Giving or offering anything of value in an effort to influence government officials in the performance of their duties.
Political Action Committees (PACs)
Organizations that solicit and receive campaign contributions from corporations, unions, trade associations, and ideological and issue–oriented groups, and their members, and the distribute these funds to political candidates.
Iron Triangles
Mutually supportive relationships among interest groups, government agencies, and legislative committees with jurisdiction over a specific policy area.
Issue networks
Coalitions of interest groups and governmental players who promote policy on a particular issue.
Revolving doors
The movement of individuals from government positions to jobs in the private sector, using the experience and knowledge, and contacts they acquired in government employment.
Litigation
Legal dispute brought before court.
Amicus Curiae
Person or group other than the defendant or the plantiff or the prosecution that submits an argument in a case for the courts consideration.
