Chapter 9

Question 1

Interest groups

Answer 1

Organizations seeking to directly influence government policy.

Question 2

Majoritarianism

Answer 2

Tendency of democratic governments to allow the faint preferences of the majority to prevail over the intense feelings of minorities.

Question 3

Organizational sclerosis

Answer 3

Society encrusted with so many special benefits to interest groups that everyone’s standard of living is lowered.

Question 4

Social Movements

Answer 4

Organized movements of persons who make “collective claims” on others.

Question 5

Rent

Answer 5

A payment for a good beyond the marginal cost of the factors that enter its production and supply.

Question 6

Environmental groups

Answer 6

Groups primarily concerned with issues of conservation or preservation of natural resources.

Question 7

Trade associations

Answer 7

Interest groups composed of businesses in specific industries.

Question 8

Public-interest groups

Answer 8

Interest groups that claim to represent broad classes of people or the public as a whole.

Question 9

Single-issue groups

Answer 9

Organizations formed to support or oppose government action on a specific issue.

Question 10

Ideological organizations

Answer 10

Interest groups that pursue ideologically based (liberal or conservative) agendas.

Question 11

Interest-group entrepreeneurs

Answer 11

Leaders who create organizations and market memberships.

Question 12

Free-riders

Answer 12

People who do not belong to an organization or pay dues, yet nevertheless benefit from its activities.

Question 13

Lobbyist

Answer 13

Person working to influence government policies and actions.

Question 14

K Street

Answer 14

The primary location, in Washington, D.C., of many powerful lobbying organizations and interest groups.

Question 15

Lobbying

Answer 15

Activities directed at government officials with the hope of influencing their decisions.

Question 16

Public relations

Answer 16

Building and maintaining goodwill with the general public.

Question 17

Access

Answer 17

Meeting and talking with decision makers, a prerequisite to direct persuasion.

Question 18

Grassroots lobbying

Answer 18

Attempts to influence government decision making by inspiring constituents to contact their representatives.

Question 19

Coalition

Answer 19

A joining together of interest groups (or individuals) to achieve common goals.

Question 20

Bribery

Answer 20

Giving or offering anything of value in an effort to influence government officials in the performance of their duties.

Question 21

Political Action Committees (PACs)

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Iron Triangles

Answer 22

Mutually supportive relationships among interest groups, government agencies, and legislative committees with jurisdiction over a specific policy area.

Question 23

Issue networks

Answer 23

Coalitions of interest groups and governmental players who promote policy on a particular issue.

Question 24

Revolving doors

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Litigation

Answer 25

Legal dispute brought before court.

Question 26

Amicus Curiae

Answer 26

Person or group other than the defendant or the plantiff or the prosecution that submits an argument in a case for the courts consideration.