Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

FHS AP Comparative Government > Interest Groups > Flashcards

Interest Groups Flashcards

1
Q

What is an interest group?

A

A collection of people or organizations that tries to influence public policy.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What did James Madison caution about in Federalist 10?

A

Factions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Why is it ironic that Madison cautioned against factions?

A

Placating existing factions was key to ratification of the Constitution.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What are some modern names of interest groups?

A

special interests, pressure groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), lobby groups

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How are interest groups different from political parties?

A

They don’t run candidates for public office.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What legal decision prompted an increase in interest groups, especially among big businesses and trade groups?

A

The Supreme Court decision that effectively equated spending money on political purposes with the freedom of speech.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How did the framers of the Constitution try to check and balance political factions?

A

Divided power among national and state governments and across the three branches, and decentralized power.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How does the Bill of Rights directly aid the development of interest groups?

A

It guarantees the right to peaceable assembly, free speech, and to petition the government directly.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

When did the first national interest groups emerge?

A

1830s (with the advent of improved communication.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What was the American Anti-Slavery Society?

A

A major interest group founded in 1833 to advocate for the abolition of slavery.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)?

A

Public interest group created in 1874 with the goal of outlawing the sale of liquor.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What was the Grange?

A

Founded in 1867, worked to protect the political and economic interests of farming communities.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is a lobbyist?

A

Interest group representative who seeks to influence legislation that will benefit their organization or client. This is done through political and/or financial persuasion.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was one of the most effective organized interest groups of the 19th century?

A

Railroads

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What was the Progressive Movement from the 1890s to the 1920s?

A

A broad group of social activists that opposed corruption in government, supported regulation of monopolies, and sought improvement in socioeconomic conditions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Give some examples of progressive groups at the time.

A

Rallying for public libraries and kindergartens, seeking better labor conditions, NAACP, and groups seeking women’s suffrage.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is a public interest group?

A

Organization that seeks a collective good that, if achieved, will not selectively or materially benefit group members.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How did the Progressive Movement manifest itself politically?

A

The formation of the Progressive Party.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What was the national government’s response to the Progressive Movement?

A

It started to regulate business.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What was the response of businesses to being regulated?

A

They organized and consolidated their strength to counter the Progressive Movement in order to keep wages low and costs down.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What was the American Federation of Labor?

A

The first national union of workers.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is the Clayton Act.

A

1914 law passed by Congress that allowed unions to organize free from prosecution and guaranteed the right to strike.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What was the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)?

A

Interest group of manufacturers founded in 1895 by manufacturers who had suffered losses in the 1893 panic. Became active politically in 1913 when a major tariff bill was under consideration. NAM’s tactics were so insistent and abrasive and their expenditures so lavish, they were denounced by President Wilson and investigated by Congress. But no member of Congress was willing to testify they had ever met a member of NAM “probably because many members of Congress had received illegal contributions and gifts.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is the Chamber of Commerce?

A

A major pro-business lobbying group founded in 1912 with the assistance of the federal government.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What is a trade association?
A group that represents a specific industry.
26
Why did public interest groups see a resurgence in the 1960s and 1970s?
Many grew from the civil-rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests that generated pessimism about a government that failed to respond to the will of the majority.
27
What is Common Cause?
A good-government group that acts as a watch-dog over the government.
28
What is Public Citizen?
A group that advocates for consumer safety. Founded by Ralph Nader after widespread concerns about the safety of the Chevrolet Corvair car. Nader ran for president in 2000.
29
What is the Ford Foundation?
A charitable organization considered liberal at the time that helped fund many progressive public interest groups in the 1960s and 70s.
30
What was the Conservative response to the rise of liberal public interest groups?
Formed religious and ideological groups that became powerful political forces through the 1980s.
31
Who was Jerry Falwell?
Southern Baptist minister who founded the conservative religious interest group the Moral Majority in 1978
32
What was the Moral Majority?
Conservative religious interest group credited with mobilizing conservative Evangelical Christian voters.
33
Who was Pat Robertson?
Southern Baptist minister and TV evangelist who ran for president in 1988 and then founded the Christian Coalition in 1989.
34
What was the Christian Coalition?
Religious interest group that advanced conservative Christian values in American politics.
35
What is the National Rifle Association?
Major gun-rights lobbying group which opposes gun control.
36
What is the Business Roundtable?
Association of chief executives of businesses, started in the 1970s in response to dissatisfaction with the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
37
What is the AFL-CIO
Combined labor organizations of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Merged in 1955.
38
Where is union membership highest in the U.S.?
Northeast, midwest, and west coast.
39
What is the percentage of unionization in the United States as of 2013?
About 10%
40
What is the range of unionization in the OECD (Europe)?
a low of about 6% in Turkey to a high of over 80% in Nordic countries.
41
When is Labor Day celebrated in most countries?
May 1st (Socialist oriented National Workers Day)
42
How have labor organizations helped change political regimes around the world?
Solidarity Trade Union helped topple communist government in Poland in 1989. Congress of South African Trade Unions helped dismantle apartheid.
43
What was the peak unionization in the United States?
About 30% in the 1940s
44
What is social capital?
The web of cooperative relationships between citizens that facilitates resolution of collective action problems.
45
What are the two theories of why interest groups form?
Disturbance theory, and transactions theory.
46
What is Pluralist theory?
Argument that political power is distributed among a wide range of diverse and competing interest groups.
47
What is Disturbance Theory?
Theory that interest groups form as a result of changes in the political system. One movement eventually gives way to a countermovement thus allowing all salient issues to be represented in government. It assumes the pluralist theory is true.
48
What is the transactions theory?
The theory that public policies are the result of narrowly defined exchanges or transactions among political actors. It arose out of criticism of pluralist theory.
49
What are the two tenants of transactions theory?
Groups that do mobilize represent elites because it is not typically rational for people to mobilize into groups and it makes little sense for individuals to join a group if they can gain the benefits secured by others at no cost to themselves and become "free riders." This second tenant is especially true in the context of collective goods.
50
What are collective goods?
Something of value that cannot be withheld from a nonmember of the group.
51
What is one argument supporters of transactions theory use to promote their theory?
The relative cost of mobilization between elite and nonelite citizens. Those with more time and money simply have lower transaction costs.
52
What are four types of interest groups?
Public, economic, governmental units, and political action committees (PACs)
53
What is a public interest group?
Organizations that seek a collective good that will not benefit JUST the members of the group.
54
What is an economic interest group?
Groups whose primary goal is to promote the financial interests of their members (typically business, labor, and farmers.)
55
What is the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission?
The case that equated corporate political spending with free speech..
56
What are Governmental Units?
States, cities, public universities, etc. that retain lobbyists in D.C. in order to make sure they get their fair share of federal dollars.
57
What are Political Action Committees?
Officially recognized fund raising organizations that represent interest groups, allowed by federal law to make contributions directly to a candidate's campaign.
58
What do interest groups do?
They represent their members just as politicians represent their constitutents.
59
What is the downside of interest groups?
They can increase the cost of public policy. For instance, if the elderly get more costly health care and retirement benefits, etc.
60
What is the benefit of interest groups?
Enhances democratic process, raise public awareness of certain issues, monitor government programs for effective implementation.
61
What is lobbying?
The activities of a group or individual that seek to persuade political leaders to support a group's position.
62
What is the origin of "lobbyist."
Those who wanted to meet with politicians often had to wait in the lobby before meeting them.
63
Who are the lobbyists?
Typically former members of Congress, former Congressional aides, or other Washington insiders.
64
How do lobbyists help politicians and their staffs?
Lobbyists provide speeches politicians can give as well as written statements for the Congressional record. The lobbyists provide the expertise that a Congressional office might not have.
65
Do lobbyists lobby the executive branch and the courts?
Yes
66
What are three ways to lobby the Supreme Court?
Direct sponsorship, amicus curiae briefs, and Supreme Court nominees.
67
What is sponsorship when lobbying the Supreme Court?
Providing resources to shepherd a case through the judicial system.
68
What is an amicus brief?
A written argument provided to the court informing the justices of the group's preferences but in the guise of a legal argument.
69
How do interest groups influence the process of nominating Supreme Court justices?
The play an important part in confirmation hearings. In 2009, 218 groups testified or prepared statements for or against the nomination of Justice Sotomayor.
70
What is grassroots lobbying?
Influence ordinary voters instead of policy makers.
71
What is a Super PAC.
An interest group that can raise unlimited amounts of money but that cannot spend directly on a candidate's campaign. It must be spent independently.
72
Who is Mariam Wright Edelman
Formerly a lawyer. She founded the interest group the Children's Defense Fund, founded in 1973 to protect the rights of children, especially those from disadvantaged groups.
73
What are the three types of members of an interest group?
Leaders, workers, and rank and file who pay dues but do little else.
74
What is a patron?
A person who finances a group or individual directly.
75
What is the free rider problem.
The resistance of some to join an interest group because they think they will reap the benefits regardless of their participation. The bigger the group, the bigger the free rider problem.
76
How do groups overcome the free rider problem?
Provide material benefits to members. AAA, for instance, (American Automobile Association) provides roadside assistance (like the accident after the funeral) and discounts on insurance. Also patrons who finance most of an interest group can make the cost of membership very low, providing incentive to join.
77
When did Congress first try to regulate lobbyists?
1946
78
When was the second time Congress tried to regulate lobbyists?
1995
79
What is the Lobbying Disclosure Act?
1995 law established definition of a lobbyist and strict reporting requirements.
80
How does the Lobbying Disclosure Act define a lobbyist?
Someone who devotes more than 20% of a client's or employer's time to lobbying activities.
81
What are the reporting requirements for the Lobbying Disclosure Act?
1) register with the clerk of the House or Senate, 2) report clients, issues, and agency lobbied, and 3) estimate the amount they are paid by each client.
82
Did the Lobbying Disclosure Act make it easier to monitor lobbying activities?
Yes
83
Did the Lobbying Disclosure Act reduce the influence of lobbyists?
No
84
What is the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007?
Lobbying reform that banned gifts to members of Congress and their staffs, toughened disclosure rules, and increased the time required to wait to become a lobbyist after leaving Congress.
85
How are lobbyists for the executive branch regulated.
Some regulation from the same laws that regulate Congressional lobbyists but not as much. Must wait 2 years after leaving the executive branch before you can lobby your old agency.
86
What are the regulations for lobbying the Supreme Court?
Few.

FHS AP Comparative Government (20 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions