AP/DC Government
Chapter 11 Review
Terms to know
Interest Groups
Going Public
Pluralism
Grassroots
Issue Networks
Astroturfing
Iron Triangles
Collective Good
Lobbying
Free-rider Problem
Consumer Protection Agency
Unsafe at Any Speed amicus curiae
Potential Group
Subgovernments
Single-issue Group
Political Action Committee (PAC)
Electioneering
K Street Project
material benefit
Litigation
Union Shop
Right-to-Work
Hyperpluralism
Elitism
Selective Benefits
information benefit
Groups to know
NRA
AFL-CIO
NFIB SEIU
Christian Coalition
AARP
NFIB
NAACP
NOW
Common Cause
Sierra Club
MADD
AIPAC
AMA
US Chamb. Of Comm.
Nat. Right to Life
Important Laws and Court Cases
Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Taft-Hartley Act
McCain-Feingold Act of 2002
Review
1. In what ways do political parties and interest groups differ from each other and the way they approach
policy?
2. What are the primary tenets of the pluralist theory as it is related to groups in politics?
3. What are subgovernments and what is another name for them?
4. What is the goal of subgovernments?
5. According to economist Mancur Olson, what is the law of large groups? What are its major tenets?
6. What is the free-rider problem? How do groups get around this in order to gain members?
7. What are the two types of benefits groups can offer? Give examples.
8. In what ways can interest groups benefit office holders or candidates through electioneering?
9. What is an amicus curiae brief? How are they used by interest groups?
10. Describe the ways in which interest groups may use going public to influence public policy.
11. Explain the differences between a grassroots movement and “astroturfing”. *
12. What are the 5 reasons that PAC directors choose to give their money to certain candidates?
13. What are the kind of groups, according to Jeffrey Berry, that do not seek selective benefits for their
members but rather a collective good?
14. What is the combined effect of the multiplicity of interest groups and the openness of American politics
on the representation of individual interests?
15. By formal definition, what is an interest group? Informal?
* denotes that the information must be found outside of the textbook
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
Citizens United vs Federal Elections Commission
Regents of the University of California vs Bakke
Tax Reform Act of 1986
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
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AP/DC Government
Chapter 11 Review
* denotes that the information must be found outside of the textbook
16. What are the differences between and major holdings of pluralist, hyperpluralist, and elitist theories as
they relate to interest groups?
17. According to Fortune magazine’s Power 25, what are the factors that most affect the success of interest
groups?
18. What are collective goods? Give examples.
19. What are some ways that groups can overcome Mancur Olson’s law of large groups?
20. What are the advantages of single-issue groups?
21. Which industries have spent the most on lobbying in recent years? What group spent the most?
22. To which individuals do the overwhelming majority of PAC donations go?
23. What is the focus and purpose of interest groups like LASTPAC and Common Cause?
24. What is an economic interest group?
25. What is a union shop?
26. What are right-to-work laws?
27. What was the effect of the Taft Hartley Act?
28. What was the K-Street Project and what group did it benefit?
29. What is a public interest lobby?
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