US interest groups

Question 1

In 2007 how many members did the NRA have?

Answer 1

• 4 million

Question 2

In 2007 what was the budget of the NRA?

Answer 2

• 200 million

Question 3

What is a sectional group?

Answer 3

Groups that seek to represent their own section or group within society

Question 4

What are cause groups?

Answer 4

Groups that campaign for a particular cause or issue

Question 5

What is a professional group?

Answer 5

A type of sectional interest group organised to promote the interest of a particular profession or business

Question 6

What is a single-interest group?

Answer 6

A type of casual interest group created in response to a specific issue in order to promote policies that the group desires concerning that issue

Question 7

What is a policy group?

Answer 7

Casual interest group who are ideological and campaign on a wider range of issues such as the environmental or civil rights

Question 8

What are think tanks?

Answer 8

Interest group that conduct research, write reports and articles and give evidence to congressional committees

Question 9

What are some liberal think tanks?

Answer 9

• Institute for Policy Studies
• The Brookings Institute
• Brennan Centre

Question 10

What are some conservative think tanks?

Answer 10

• The Heritage Foundation
• American Enterprise Institute

Question 11

What are iron triangles?

Answer 11

Term used to describe a relationship that develops between congressional committees, the federal bureaucracy and interest groups during the policy creation process

Question 12

What is pluralism?

Answer 12

A theory that political power does not rest simply with the electorate or the governing elite but is distributed among groups representing widely different interests

Question 13

What is elitism?

Answer 13

A theory that political power rests with a small group who gain power through wealth, and close contract with policymakers

Question 14

Significance of interest groups

Answer 14

• Representation
• Citizen participation
• Agenda building
• Programme monitoring

Question 15

What is Bulwark?

Answer 15

A mechanism for blocking or stopping something

Question 16

What is the public choice theory?

Answer 16

Associated with the Conservative right which says that firms and businesses lobby to secure favours in the form of subsidies to ‘capture the government’

Question 17

What is majoritarian democracy?

Answer 17

• A theory that says that democracy should reflect the will of the majority and groups who are successful should do so too

Question 18

What is a free rider problem?

Answer 18

• With groups large membership groups are less successful than small membership high;y invested and energised supporters

Question 19

What is hyperpluralism?

Answer 19

Increasing number of groups and size of government which raises expectations of government action which makes decision making less efficient

Question 20

How are pressure groups representative democracy?

Answer 20

• Represent minority interests which might be ignored in US winner takes all system
• Encourages members to turn out at elections increasing legitimacy of those elected

Question 21

How do interest groups undermine representative democracy?

Answer 21

• Undermine the power of legitimately elected local representatives
• Can create over-representation of the minority

Question 22

How do interest groups support liberal democracy?

Answer 22

• Can raise issues about rights and work to protect them
• Raise issues that hold government accountable and can act as a check on the executive
• A wide range of interest groups on directly competing issues are tolerated

Question 23

How do interest groups undermine liberal democracy?

Answer 23

• free and fair elections can be undermined by the money that interest groups pump into elections
• tolerance of more extremist groups can undermine the rights of other groups
• use of illegal methods undermine the rule of law

Question 24

How do interest groups undermine pluralist democracy?

Answer 24

• interest groups with more money can have a disproportionate amount of influence
• same interest groups always seem to retain influence of the political process no matter which party is in power
• focus of interest group action is in Washington DC and so centralises power with federal government

Question 25

How do interest groups support pluralist democracy?

Answer 25

- Nature of US politics gives interest groups a greater number of access points, dispersing power - Smaller interest groups have had success in gaining national attention

Question 26

What is lobbying?

Answer 26

- attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies

Question 27

What is the purpose of lobbying?

Answer 27

- seek to influence public policy by presenting information, perspectives, or proposals to policymakers

Question 28

Types of lobbyists?

Answer 28

- organisational - work for organisations or corporations - contract - hired by multiple clients - cause or public interest - work for organisations that promote causes - government

Question 29

In 2021 how much did the National Association of Realtors spend on lobbying?

Answer 29

44 million

Question 30

In 2021 how much did U.S Chamber of Commerce spend on lobbying?

Answer 30

66.4 million

Question 31

What is direct lobbying?

Answer 31

Meeting with lawmakers or government officials to discuss and promote specific legislation on policies

Question 32

What is grassroot lobbying?

Answer 32

Mobilising members of the public to advocate for a cause or policy

Question 33

what is information campaigns (lobbying)?

Answer 33

Providing data, research, or testimonies to inform lawmakers about specific issues

Question 34

What is coalition building (lobbyists)?

Answer 34

Forming alliances with other groups to strengthen the advocacy effort

Question 35

What are lobbyists methods?

Answer 35

- Direct lobbying - Grassroots lobbying - Information campaign - Coalition building

Question 36

What is the regulation on lobbyists?

Answer 36

- regulated by the federal government - required to register with the government - must disclose who they represent